The euro gained against the majority of its most-traded counterparts as the central bank saw signs of “stabilization” in the region and investors speculated Greece would convince European leaders to release its aid package.
The euro rose 0.3 percent to US$1.3197 and gained 1.63 percent to ￥102.43 versus the Japanese currency. The yen fell 1.32 percent per US dollar.
FUTURES TRADE
Futures traders decreased bets the euro would fall versus the dollar, lowering so-called net shorts for a second week. The difference between wagers that the shared currency will weaken versus those that it will rise narrowed to 140,593 on Tuesday, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed.
European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said on Thursday it would lower the collateral requirements to access the next three-year loan auction later this month. He also said surveys confirm “signs of stabilization” in the region.
The ECB maintained policy makers’ main refinancing rate at 1 percent, in line with the estimates of 55 of 57 analysts in a Bloomberg News survey.
RALLY
The euro has rallied 4.3 percent versus the US dollar from the low last month of US$1.2624 amid speculation Greek lawmakers would satisfy demands from the European Commission, ECB and IMF to receive the 130 billion euro (US$172 billion) aid package. It is trading US$0.11 above its lifetime average of US$1.2060.
The euro gained 0.1 percent to 1.20959 versus the Swiss franc. It breached the 1.21 mark on Tuesday for the first time since Jan. 25. Swiss central bank interim chairman Thomas Jordan said the currency remains “very strong” and policy makers can’t allow it to appreciate further. The Swiss National Bank imposed a 1.20 cap on the currency on Sept. 19.
AI REVOLUTION: The event is to take place from Wednesday to Friday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center’s halls 1 and 2 and would feature more than 1,100 exhibitors Semicon Taiwan, an annual international semiconductor exhibition, would bring leaders from the world’s top technology firms to Taipei this year, the event organizer said. The CEO Summit is to feature nine global leaders from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控), Applied Materials Inc, Google, Samsung Electronics Co, SK Hynix Inc, Microsoft Corp, Interuniversity Microelectronic Centre and Marvell Technology Group Ltd, SEMI said in a news release last week. The top executives would delve into how semiconductors are positioned as the driving force behind global technological innovation amid the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, the organizer said. Among them,
Demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips should spur growth for the semiconductor industry over the next few years, the CEO of a major supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) said, dismissing concerns that investors had misjudged the pace and extent of spending on AI. While the global chip market has grown about 8 percent annually over the past 20 years, AI semiconductors should grow at a much higher rate going forward, Scientech Corp (辛耘) chief executive officer Hsu Ming-chi (許明琪) told Bloomberg Television. “This booming of the AI industry has just begun,” Hsu said. “For the most prominent
Former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) yesterday warned against the tendency to label stakeholders as either “pro-China” or “pro-US,” calling such rigid thinking a “trap” that could impede policy discussions. Liu, an adviser to the Cabinet’s Economic Development Committee, made the comments in his keynote speech at the committee’s first advisers’ meeting. Speaking in front of Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) and other officials, Liu urged the public to be wary of falling into the “trap” of categorizing people involved in discussions into either the “pro-China” or “pro-US” camp. Liu,
Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said Taiwan’s government plans to set up a business service company in Kyushu, Japan, to help Taiwanese companies operating there. “The company will follow the one-stop service model similar to the science parks we have in Taiwan,” Kuo said. “As each prefecture is providing different conditions, we will establish a new company providing services and helping Taiwanese companies swiftly settle in Japan.” Kuo did not specify the exact location of the planned company but said it would not be in Kumamoto, the Kyushu prefecture in which Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC, 台積電) has a
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