The yen rose for a third week against the US dollar, its longest stretch of gains since January, as US economic data signaling the recovery is sputtering boosted demand for currencies less likely to return a loss.
Japan’s currency advanced against all 16 of its most active counterparts, while those of commodity exporters including Canada and Norway were among the worst performers amid speculation the G20 nations will fail to agree this weekend on how to tackle Europe’s debt crisis. Reports next week may show US payrolls shrank and manufacturing growth slowed.
“The yen rally can be described as a safe-haven play,” said Hidetoshi Yanagihara, a currency trader in New York at Mizuho Corporate Bank. “The US economy is not performing well. Growth in the second quarter may have slowed more than people had thought, and that’s what the market is trying to price in.”
The yen gained 1.7 percent to ¥89.23 per US dollar, from ¥90.71 on June 18, and appreciated 1.8 percent to ¥110.41 per euro, from ¥112.40. The euro slipped 0.2 percent to US$1.2369, from US$1.2388 last week. Australia’s higher-yielding dollar slid 1.4 percent to ¥78.02, its first decline in three weeks.
Sterling gained for a third week against the US dollar amid optimism an emergency budget announced Tuesday by British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne would cut the nation’s deficit and enable Britain to keep its top credit rating. The pound rose 1.6 percent to US$1.5063.
The yuan had its biggest weekly gain since December 2008, rising 0.5 percent to 6.7921 per US dollar, after the People’s Bank of China said last Saturday it would end a two-year peg to the dollar.
Asian currencies dropped this week, led by South Korea’s won, as concern Europe’s debt crisis will worsen outweighed the benefits to the region of China’s decision to end the yuan’s two-year peg.
The won declined 1 percent this week to close at 1,215.19 in Seoul, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Singapore dollar fell 0.6 percent in the past five days to S$1.3940, the Indian rupee weakened 0.2 percent to 46.2865 and the peso dropped 1.2 percent to 46.445 per dollar.
The New Taiwan dollar pared gains on Friday after the central bank intervened to check appreciation that might hurt exports. Bonds fell the most in eight months after the central bank raised interest rates.
The monetary authority intervened at the last minute of trading, as it has done every day for about two months now, according to a trader familiar with the matter who declined to be identified. The Taiwan dollar earlier rose as much as 0.6 percent after China set the yuan’s rate at a record high, helping boost the purchasing power of the nation’s biggest overseas market. Taiwan’s central bank on Thursday lifted its benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2008.
China “just fixed the yuan’s mid-point at a record high so the Taiwan dollar is stronger,” said Joanna Tan, a regional economist at Forecast Singapore Pte. “That would obviously bring out the yuan proxy trades.”
The NT dollar ended 0.1 percent higher at NT$32.180 against its US counterpart at 4pm on Friday, according to Taipei Forex Inc. The currency was little changed from a week earlier.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from