The euro declined versus the US dollar for the first time in three weeks as signs of slowing global economic growth added to concern Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis was worsening, dampening appetite for riskier assets.
The yen rose against the euro as investors sought haven after China’s export growth collapsed, while economists forecast data would show the eurozone’s economy shrank for a second straight quarter. The Canadian dollar gained versus most of its peers as oil climbed for a second week.
“Risk-on was a little stronger in the beginning of the week following the previous week’s comments out of Europe,” Brian Kim, a currency strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland’s securities unit in Stamford, Connecticut, said on Friday in a telephone interview. “Reality set in that it’s all about the implementation. After the soft China data, people probably put things into neutral and maybe reversed a bit heading into the weekend.”
The 17-nation currency declined 0.8 percent to US$1.2289 this week in New York in its first loss since the five days ended July 20. The euro depreciated versus the yen for the first time in three weeks, falling 1.1 percent to ￥96.17. Japan’s currency rose 0.2 percent to ￥78.28 per US dollar.
Norway’s krone was the biggest winner among major currencies. It climbed 1.8 percent to 7.2702 per euro and touched 7.2502, the strongest since January 2003. The currency advanced 1.1 percent to 5.9149 per US dollar.
The Swedish krona reached the highest level versus the shared currency in 12 years. It touched 8.1784 per euro on Friday, the strongest since June 2000. For the week, it appreciated 1.5 percent to 8.1821, and rose 0.7 percent to 6.6575 per US dollar.
“There’s a lot of focus on these currencies as safe havens with strong fundamentals,” Niels Christensen, chief currency strategist at Nordea Bank AB in Copenhagen, said by telephone on Wednesday. “There’s a double effect of demand for these currencies and a weak euro.”
Canada’s dollar strengthened versus the greenback for a fifth straight week, the longest winning streak since October 2010, amid an increase in crude oil, the nation’s biggest export.
The currency, nicknamed the loonie for the image of the waterfowl on the one-dollar coin, gained 1 percent to US$0.9911.
The pound advanced for the first time in three weeks against the euro after Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said cutting UK interest rates might be counterproductive. It reached the highest this month against the US dollar after King’s comments dampened speculation policymakers would reduce borrowing costs to spur growth.
The pound gained 1.1 percent over the week to ￡0.7836 per euro at 4:30pm in London on Friday. It climbed 0.3 percent to US$1.5679.
EXTRATERRITORIAL REACH: China extended its legal jurisdiction to ban some dual-use goods of Chinese origin from being sold to the US, even by third countries Beijing has set out to extend its domestic laws across international borders with a ban on selling some goods to the US that applies to companies both inside and outside China. The new export control rules are China’s first attempt to replicate the extraterritorial reach of US and European sanctions by covering Chinese products or goods with Chinese parts in them. In an announcement this week, China declared it is banning the sale of dual-use items to the US military and also the export to the US of materials such as gallium and germanium. Companies and people overseas would be subject to
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) yesterday said that Intel Corp would find itself in the same predicament as it did four years ago if its board does not come up with a core business strategy. Chang made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions about the ailing US chipmaker, once an archrival of TSMC, during a news conference in Taipei for the launch of the second volume of his autobiography. Intel unexpectedly announced the immediate retirement of former chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger last week, ending his nearly four-year tenure and ending his attempts to revive the
WORLD DOMINATION: TSMC’s lead over second-placed Samsung has grown as the latter faces increased Chinese competition and the end of clients’ product life cycles Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) retained the No. 1 title in the global pure-play wafer foundry business in the third quarter of this year, seeing its market share growing to 64.9 percent to leave South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co, the No. 2 supplier, further behind, Taipei-based TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report. TSMC posted US$23.53 billion in sales in the July-September period, up 13.0 percent from a quarter earlier, which boosted its market share to 64.9 percent, up from 62.3 percent in the second quarter, the report issued on Monday last week showed. TSMC benefited from the debut of flagship
TENSE TIMES: Formosa Plastics sees uncertainty surrounding the incoming Trump administration in the US, geopolitical tensions and China’s faltering economy Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), Taiwan’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday posted overall revenue of NT$118.61 billion (US$3.66 billion) for last month, marking a 7.2 percent rise from October, but a 2.5 percent fall from one year earlier. The group has mixed views about its business outlook for the current quarter and beyond, as uncertainty builds over the US power transition and geopolitical tensions. Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), a vertically integrated supplier of plastic resins and petrochemicals, reported a monthly uptick of 15.3 percent in its revenue to NT$18.15 billion, as Typhoon Kong-rey postponed partial shipments slated for October and last month, it said. The
RSS