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.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft