The US dollar gained the most against the euro in six months on concern the global recovery may stall as economic stimulus winds down, reducing demand for higher-yielding assets funded by the greenback.
The pound touched the strongest level against the euro this week since September after gains in consumer confidence and mortgage approvals added to signs an economic recovery is taking hold in the UK. The advance in the dollar before next’s week Federal Reserve announcement pared a fourth consecutive monthly loss, part of the longest losing streak since 2004.
The US dollar advanced 2 percent to US$1.4719 per euro on Friday, from US$1.5008 on Oct. 23. It was the biggest gain since a 2.3 percent rise in the five days ended April 10.
The dollar rallied from a 14-month low of US$1.5063 against the euro on Monday.
The euro decreased 4.2 percent to ¥132.61, from ¥138.15, in the biggest drop since May. The US dollar fell 2.1 percent to ¥90.09, from ¥89.64. It touched a level lower than ¥90 on Friday for the first time since Oct. 15.
Sterling rallied 2.8 percent to £0.8944 per euro as reports showed UK mortgage approvals climbed in September to the highest level in 18 months and consumer confidence rose.
The pound touched £0.8912 against the euro on Thursday, the strongest level since Sept. 17. Britain’s currency gained 0.9 percent to US$1.6452.
Asian currencies declined for a second week, led by the Indonesian rupiah and Indian rupee, as unexpected slides in US home sales and consumer confidence fueled concern about the speed of a global economic recovery.
The rupiah dropped 1.6 percent this week to 9,585 per dollar, India’s rupee fell 1.0 percent to 46.9729 and the Malaysian ringgit slid 0.9 percent to 3.4138. All three were still up for the month.
The Korean won ended the week 0.1 percent lower at 1,182.05 in Seoul. The currency, which has strengthened 9 percent in the past six months, reached a five-week low of 1,205.75 per dollar on Thursday.
The New Taiwan dollar declined 0.4 percent this week to NT$32.535 against the US currency.
Elsewhere, the Philippine peso fell 1.3 percent this week to 47.595. The Singapore dollar dropped 0.3 percent to S$1.3978, while the Thai baht was little changed at 33.43.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
Tsunami waves were possible in three areas of Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East, the Russian Ministry for Emergency Services said yesterday after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the nearby Kuril Islands. “The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, after the latest seismic activity in the area. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in Hawaii said there was no tsunami warning after the quake. The Russian tsunami alert was later canceled. Overnight, the Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamchatka erupted for the first time in 600 years, Russia’s RIA
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South Korea yesterday said that it was removing loudspeakers used to blare K-pop and news reports to North Korea, as the new administration in Seoul tries to ease tensions with its bellicose neighbor. The nations, still technically at war, had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. It said in June that Pyongyang stopped transmitting bizarre, unsettling noises along the border that had become a major nuisance for South Korean residents, a day after South Korea’s loudspeakers fell silent. “Starting today, the military has begun removing the loudspeakers,”
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