The US dollar weakened against the euro and the British pound on Friday in the wake of fresh economic news including a report that showed a surprise drop in US industrial production last month.
US industrial output fell 0.5 percent last month, marking the biggest decline in production since January. Traders said the report weighed on the US dollar as it raised concerns about US economic growth.
The euro, which has risen strongly against the US dollar this year, climbed to US$1.4659 compared with US$1.4609 late on Thursday. On Wednesday, the euro spiked above US$1.47, flirting with its record high of US$1.4752 struck on Nov. 9.
The US dollar, which has weakened considerably against the euro and other currencies this year, also came under pressure from a separate government report which revealed a lower-than-expected flow of international capital into the US during September.
The US capital flow balance rebounded in September to a surplus of US$26.4 billion, compared with a deficit of over US$70 billion in the prior month, but September's reading fell short of market hopes which had anticipated inward flows of around US$70 billion.
"Falling investment rates in US financial markets raised fears of further deterioration for the country's international balance of payments and bode poorly for the domestic currency," said David Rodriguez, a currency analyst at Forex Capital Markets.
"Subsequent industrial production numbers hardly helped the dollar's cause, and there seems to be little in the way of fundamental data to improve investor sentiment on the US economy," Rodriguez said.
Fed chairman Ben Bernanke has warned that US economic growth is likely to slow in coming months, amid a housing slump and rising energy prices, and concerns about interest rates have also weighed down the US dollar.
Market chatter earlier this week suggesting the Fed could cut rates at a planned Dec. 11 meeting had dented the US dollar, although many economists expect the central bank to keep its key fed funds interest rate pegged at 4.5 percent next month.
The US dollar could come under further pressure from the Gulf states, where a group of six oil-rich countries, the Gulf Co-operation Council, looks set to unpeg their currencies from the US unit in the coming weeks, analysts said.
The euro meanwhile continued to strengthen against the pound, briefly hitting a new high of 0.717 as currency speculators readjusted their expectations for interest rates in Britain and the eurozone.
The Bank of England's dovish report on inflation earlier this week and a warning on house prices are stoking expectations that British interest rates could be trimmed in future months.
The pound rose to US$2.0546 compared with US$2.0448 late on Thursday.
In late US trade, the US dollar stood at 1.1175 Swiss francs from SF1.1222. The US dollar surged to ¥111.07, against ¥ 110.26 a day earlier.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS