The New Taiwan dollar strengthened as stock gains fueled optimism that overseas funds would add to their holdings of local shares as risk appetite increases.
The local currency advanced as the benchmark TAIEX extended a seven-week rally, rising 1.3 percent yesterday. The MSCI Asia Pacific index jumped as much as 0.9 percent after the Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 3.8 percent on Friday. Foreign investors bought US$804 million more Taiwanese shares than they sold this month, stock exchange data showed.
US STOCKS
“The [New] Taiwan dollar is stronger this morning due to the stock market which has gained quite a bit,” said Henry Lin, a foreign-exchange trader at Shin Kong Commercial Bank (新光商銀) in Taipei. “Investors are also taking their cues from US stocks.”
The local currency rose 0.3 percent to NT$33.680 against the greenback as of 3:04pm, according to Taipei Forex Inc. The currency fell last week on speculation the central bank intervened to stem gains.
“The central bank has not been in the market so far this morning but it could come in the afternoon,” Lin said. “The central bank doesn’t want the Taiwan dollar to appreciate too much.”
The central bank warned local banks last Tuesday not to speculate on gains in the NT dollar, the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported on Wednesday, citing unidentified traders.
CROSS-STRAIT TIES
The local currency also strengthened on optimism of improved cross-strait relations.
Taiwan plans to propose to China that they start talks on cross-strait economic cooperation at the end of this year, Chao Chien-min (趙建民), deputy chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday.
“The government’s policy to improve Taiwan’s relations with China is also helping sentiment in the market,” Lin said.
China and Taiwan took another step toward free conversion of their currencies after the People’s Bank of China agreed to buy back the yuan in Taiwan, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday, citing an unidentified official.
The two sides may use the Bank of China Ltd (中國工商銀行) and the Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行) for settlement, the report said.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure
RSS