The dollar was mixed on Friday in quiet trading over the US Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
The euro slid to US$1.2708 in late trading on Friday in New York from US$1.2899 on Wednesday in New York. On Thursday in Europe, when US markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, the euro fetched US$1.2900 in the afternoon.
The British pound rose to US$1.5412 on Friday from US$1.5350 on Wednesday in New York, but was down slightly from its price of US$1.5489 on Thursday in Europe.
Meanwhile, the dollar slipped to ¥95.65 on Friday afternoon from ¥95.73 late on Wednesday. On Thursday, the dollar was worth ¥95.31 in Europe. The yen was quoted at ¥121.22 per euro in Tokyo on Friday from ¥122.89 a day earlier, for a 0.4 percent decline this week.
Currency markets were quiet on Thursday, with US stock markets closed and a shortage of new economic data, and “there’s little in the way of fundamentals that suggest today will be much different,” said James Hughes, a currency analyst at CMC Markets.
In other New York trading, the US dollar rose to 1.2133 Swiss francs on Friday from SF1.2035 late in New York on Wednesday, and gained to C$1.2386 in late trading from C$1.2271 on Wednesday.
South Korea’s won rallied this week, leading gains in Asian currencies, as the nation’s record current-account surplus eased a shortage of dollars.
The won rose 1.8 percent this week to 1,469 per dollar in Seoul, according to Seoul Money Brokerage Services Ltd.
The Philippine peso posted its biggest weekly advance in four months, climbing 1.8 percent on the week to 48.96 a dollar.
Seven of the region’s 10 most-traded currencies excluding the yen strengthened over the past five days as shares rose the most in a month after China’s largest interest-rate cut in 11 years. Indonesia’s rupiah and the Thai baht fell for a third week.
The baht fell 0.7 percent on the week to 35.46 per dollar, the second worst-performing currency after the Indonesian rupiah, which slumped 1.6 percent this week to 12,300.
The Malaysian ringgit was little changed for the week at 3.6250.
The New Taiwan dollar reached as high as NT$33.216 on Friday, up 0.3 percent from the end of last week.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)