The US dollar traded near a record low against the euro and headed for its third consecutive year of losses against the yen.
The US currency yesterday weakened to US$1.35 per euro for the first time on concern foreign demand for US assets will wane. The move was exaggerated by holiday conditions, analysts said.
"The dollar blew past US$1.35 in a thin market," said Westpac Banking Corp's Robert Rennie, a senior currency strategist in Sydney. "The holidays are upon us and people want to get their work done and go home."
Against the euro, the dollar was at US$1.3493 at 2:30pm in Tokyo, from US$1.3515 late in New York yesterday, according to electronic foreign exchange trading system EBS. It was also at ¥103.70, from ¥103.59. The currency reached a record low of US$1.3517 versus the euro yesterday.
The dollar is down 6.7 percent against the euro and 3.3 percent versus the yen this year. Japan's currency is headed for its longest run of annual gains versus its US counterpart in a decade. The dollar may fall to US$1.40 per euro and below ¥100 in the first quarter of next year, Rennie said.
Japanese markets were closed yesterday, and the US has a holiday today. London's markets are closed Dec. 27 and 28.
The dollar's descent may accelerate if it were to exceed US$1.3517 per euro, a level where traders have pre-set orders to sell the currency, said Chris Melendez, president of Tempest Trading Technologies, a hedge fund in Newport Beach, California.
The dollar is headed for its 11th weekly loss of the last 12 weeks against the euro, and 12th drop in the past 13 weeks versus the yen.
The yen also may advance as the Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose for a fifth day, gaining as much as 1.4 percent, extending this year's climb to 6.3 percent and spurring speculation overseas investors will increase purchases of Japanese shares.
In other trading, the dollar hovered at 1.1432 Swiss francs, down 1.2 percent on the week. Against the British pound, it was at US$1.9216, from US$1.9236 on Thursday.
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session yesterday while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival- threatening
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
RSS