South Korea’s won gained this week, completing its best week since April 2006 as overseas investors increased purchases of local stocks. The Thai baht had its biggest weekly loss in seven months.
The won advanced for a second week after a government report on Tuesday showed export growth unexpectedly accelerated last month, improving the outlook for Asia’s fourth-biggest economy. Overseas shipments are likely to rise more than 10 percent this month, the South Korean Finance Ministry said in a monthly report released on Thursday.
“South Korea is probably the most sensitive to credit-market concerns, and when those ease, the won benefits the most among Asia’s emerging currencies,” said Tetsuo Yoshikoshi, an analyst at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp in Singapore. “The stronger export number definitely supported the won.”
The won climbed 1.9 percent in the week to 973.80 per US dollar, Seoul Money Brokerage Services Ltd said.
The currency may advance to around 960 next week, Yoshikoshi said.
The baht had its worst week since August as oil importers took advantage of the currency’s rally last month to buy the US dollar and pay for shipments, Pongpen Ruengvirayudh, a senior director at the Bank of Thailand, said on Thursday.
The baht fell 0.8 percent to 31.69 per dollar in the week, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That was the biggest decline since the five days ended Aug. 17.
Malaysia’s ringgit fell on Friday, losing 0.2 percent to 3.1935 per dollar on concern a slowing US economy will damp demand for the nation’s exports. It still gained 0.1 percent in the week.
The US is Malaysia’s biggest export market. The ringgit also declined as Malysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi fended off calls for his resignation after an electoral setback last month.
The Philippine peso fell after a government report showed inflation accelerated at the fastest pace in 20 months, damping demand for the nation’s stocks.
The currency declined for a second day after the statistics office on Friday said the inflation rate for last month rose to 6.4 percent, from 5.4 percent in February.
The peso declined 0.3 percent to 41.755 versus the dollar, the Bankers Association of the Philippines said. The peso still gained 0.1 percent this week.
Elsewhere, the Indonesian rupiah lost 0.2 percent to 9,200 per US dollar, Vietnam’s dong fell 0.1 percent to 16,110 and the Singapore dollar advanced 0.2 percent to S$1.3837.
Taiwan’s financial markets were shut for a holiday.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
RSS