Asian currencies rose after a European Central Bank official suggested the region should stop trying to curb their appreciation.
The bank's chief economist Otmar Issing urged Asian governments to let their currencies strengthen to ease pressure on the euro, which rose almost twice as much as the South Korean won in the past three years.
"Asia is not doing its fair share," as Europe takes the brunt of the US dollar's decline, said Robert Rennie, a currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp.
Issing's comments on Tuesday may have prompted some investors "to unwind" some of their dollar purchases because Asian currencies haven't risen as much, Sydney-based Rennie said.
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rose 0.3 percent to NT$32.028 against its US counterpart, Taipei Forex Inc data show. The yen traded at ?103.38, near a one-week high of ?103.12 reached on Tuesday in New York.
The won climbed 0.3 percent to 1,042.20 against the US dollar as of 4pm in Seoul, according to Seoul Money Brokerage Services Ltd.
The won's 27 percent gain in the past three years lagged the euro's 52 percent climb versus the US dollar. The yen rose 28 percent and the NT dollar appreciated 10 percent in the same period.
The euro's advance has "gone too far," Issing said at a conference in Zurich. "The key to this problem lies with Asia and especially in the hands of China."
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
As they zigzagged from one machine to another in the searing African sun, the workers were covered in black soot. However, the charcoal they were making is known as “green,” and backers hope it can save impoverished Chad from rampant deforestation. Chad, a vast, landlocked country of 19 million people perched at the crossroads of north and central Africa, is steadily turning to desert. It has lost more than 90 percent of its forest cover since the 1970s, hit by climate change and overexploitation of trees for household uses such as cooking, officials say. “Green charcoal” aims to protect what
RSS