The New Taiwan dollar and the Thai baht led gains among Asian currencies this week as investor appetite for the region's assets returned.
The Taiwanese currency advanced 0.8 percent, the second-best performer of the 10 most-traded Asian currencies excluding the yen. Exchange rates also rose on speculation central banks are allowing their currencies to appreciate to temper inflation. The baht climbed to its highest level since 1997 after the government said it was reviewing capital controls imposed after the ouster of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in late 2006.
The Taiwanese currency added 0.8 percent this week to NT$31.740, said Taipei Forex Inc, the biggest advance since the period ended Sept. 28 and a fifth week of gains.
"There were a lot of overseas fund inflows and exporters were dumping the US dollar," said Gary Huang, a currency trader at Union Bank of Taiwan (
The rupiah gained 0.8 percent this week to 9,169 per dollar and the Singapore dollar rose 0.4 percent to S$1.4138.
Thailand's baht rose the most in the five days since November in onshore trading on speculation exporters had exchanged overseas earnings to guard against further losses in the dollar.
The baht advanced past 32.70 per US dollar on Friday for the first time since August 1997 and was the best performing Asian currency this week. The government on Tuesday said it will decide by April whether to lift remaining restrictions on capital entering the nation.
"The central bank hasn't been aggressively intervening" to slow baht appreciation, said Tetsuo Yoshikoshi, a market analyst in Singapore at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp Exporters "are selling dollars, fearing some sort of change to capital controls will push the dollar lower."
The baht climbed 1.2 percent to 32.56, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
South Korea's won posted a weekly loss as overseas investors added to sales of the nation's shares. The won is the second-worst performer of the 16 most-active currencies this year as funds abroad sold Korean stocks on every day except three this year, offloading US$10.4 billion more than they bought.
Benchmark Asian stock markets on Friday followed declines in US equities after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the "downside risks to growth have increased."
"Both onshore and offshore players are inclined to go long with dollars after the drop in US shares," said Kim Sung-soon, a currency dealer at state-run Industrial Bank of Korea in Seoul. "Foreign selling of stocks is heavily on the mind of traders."
Korea's currency fell 0.4 percent this week to 945.05 against the dollar, according to Seoul Money Brokerage Services Ltd. A long position is a bet an asset will gain.
The KOSPI index of shares declined 0.2 percent on Friday, adding to this year's 11 percent loss.
The Philippine peso fell for a second week on concern an Associated Press report of a plan to assassinate Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will cause investors to shun the nation's assets.
The currency was the second-worst performer this month among the 10-most active Asian currencies before yesterday's protest rally against alleged corruption in government.
The Philippine currency traded at 40.70 in Manila, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It closed at 41.00 on Thursday and 40.65 on Feb. 8, based on data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines.
Elsewhere, Vietnam's dong added 0.1 percent in the week to 15,957.5 per dollar.
TECH TITANS: Amazon’s latest chip joins Google in competing for the 90 percent market share held by Nvidia, which claims it is ‘a generation ahead of the industry’ Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Tuesday launched its in-house-built Trainium3 artificial intelligence (AI) chip, marking a significant push to compete with Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market for AI computing power. The move intensifies competition in the AI chip market, where Nvidia dominates with an estimated 80 to 90 percent market share for products used in training large language models that power the likes of ChatGPT. Google last week caused tremors in the industry when it was reported that Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc would employ Google AI chips in data centers, signaling new competition for Nvidia. This followed the release last month of
INSULATED: The company said it is less exposed to global complications, as it has built a strong footprint worldwide, and has multiple sources of rare earths and raw minerals Merck Group yesterday said it would ramp up production next year at its new flagship facility in Kaohsiung’s Lujhu District (路竹) to satisfy growing demand for advanced semiconductor materials and specialty gases, and to address supply resilience issues amid mounting geopolitical risks. Merck made the remarks during a news conference before the inauguration of its 500 million euros (US$582.1 million) facility, which is also to supply other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, it said. Merck executive board deputy chair and electronics CEO Kai Beckmann told reporters the company adopted a “local-for-local” strategy about seven years ago to address the cycle time of
Two companies wholly owned by the daughter of the founder of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Monday reported to the Taiwan Stock Exchange that they would dispose of all of the Hon Hai shares they hold. In filings with the exchange, Hong Wei Investment Co (鋐維) said it would sell the 2.771 million Hon Hai shares it holds and Frontier Investment Corp (承鋒投資) said it would sell its 2.409 million Hon Hai shares from tomorrow until Jan. 3 next year. The two companies are wholly owned and chaired by Shirley Gou (郭曉玲), the eldest daughter of Hon Hai founder Terry
RIDING THE WAVE: The race to build AI infrastructure has lifted the valuations of top memory makers, such as Micron, amid dwindling inventories and supply challenges Micron Technology Inc is to spend ￥1.5 trillion (US$9.6 billion) to build a plant in western Japan to make memory chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, the Nikkei reported on Saturday. The move comes as Micron seeks to diversify advanced chip production outside of Taiwan, the Nikkei article said, citing people familiar with the matter. The new factory will manufacture high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component for working with AI processors such as those made by Nvidia Corp, the report said. Micron would build the facility within the compound of its Hiroshima plant, starting in May next year, with plans to launch
RSS