The dollar's recent rally ran out of steam on Friday as the yen gained on predictions that Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party would come out the winner in yesterday's elections. The dollar drifted down to ¥109.63 at 9pm GMT after ¥110.49 on Thursday.
The euro meanwhile edged up to US$1.2408 against US$1.2398 late Thursday in New York.
The currency market was confined to tight trading ranges, however, as uncertainties remained over the outlook for both oil prices and US interest rates in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
"Markets are ending the week with a fair degree of uncertainty," Bank of New York currency analyst Simon Derrick said.
Fed Funds futures rates are pricing in two further interest rate hikes in the US by the end of the year.
But it was unclear whether the devastation wrought by Katrina will prompt the Federal Reserve to approve a pause in rate hikes this month.
"Early in the week there appeared to be a strong possibility that the Fed may pause at the next policy meeting to assess the economic fallout of Katrina," said Gregor Bush, economist at BMO Financial.
"Through the week however, comments from officials led investors to believe that the Fed is currently viewing this negative shock as transitory and is unlikely to deviate significantly from its previous course unless the economic data warranted such action," he said.
Higher rates would help the dollar by attracting more investment to dollar-based assets.
The greenback gained overnight as the market interpreted a speech late Thursday by San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank president Janet Yellen as mildly hawkish on rates.
In late New York trade, the US dollar stood at 1.2431 Swiss francs from SF1.244 on Thursday.
The pound was being traded at US$1.8392 from US$1.8353 late on Thursday.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR: Revenue from AI servers made up more than 50 percent of Wistron’s total server revenue in the second quarter, the company said Wistron Corp (緯創) on Tuesday reported a 135.6 percent year-on-year surge in revenue for last month, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, with the momentum expected to extend into the third quarter. Revenue last month reached NT$209.18 billion (US$7.2 billion), a record high for June, bringing second-quarter revenue to NT$551.29 billion, a 129.47 percent annual increase, the company said. Revenue in the first half of the year totaled NT$897.77 billion, up 87.36 percent from a year earlier and also a record high for the period, it said. The company remains cautiously optimistic about AI server shipments in the third quarter,
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