The New Taiwan dollar closed up 0.41 percent against the US dollar yesterday, hitting its highest level in more than four months, thanks to strong foreign portfolio inflows.
The NT dollar rose to NT$29.611 versus the greenback midway through yesterday’s session, but later retreated, closing up NT$0.121 at NT$29.721 against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange Market — its highest level since May 9.
On the smaller Cosmos Foreign Exchange Market, the local currency ended at NT$29.715 against the US dollar, up NT$0.115 from Friday last week.
Daily trading volume remained steady at US$1.22 billion yesterday, with US$805 million on the Taipei Forex and US$416 million on the Cosmos.
“The foreign portfolio inflows helped boost the level of the NT dollar against the greenback,” a Taipei-based currency trader at Union Bank of Taiwan (聯邦銀行) said by telephone.
Foreign portfolio investors bought a net total of NT$13.35 billion (US$449.18 million) worth of shares on the local bourse yesterday, with the benchmark TAIEX closing up 112.86 points, or 1.38 percent, at 8,255.34 on turnover of NT$76.28 billion.
The strong inflows further raised currency rates, the trader said.
He said the NT dollar may remain relatively strong, as the government’s move to raise electricity rates from Oct. 1, as well as recent political turmoil involving President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), may lead the central bank to maintain a stable currency rate.
The rising NT dollar might not exceed NT$29.5 versus the greenback, given Taiwan’s modest economic growth momentum, he said.
Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute (元大寶華綜合經濟研究院) said the NT dollar exchange rate may continue following the South Korean won in the near term, as the issue of the US Federal Reserve’s next chairmanship is likely to put further pressure on the US dollar.
The won rose 0.44 percent to 1,082.2 versus the greenback as of 4pm yesterday, from 1,087 on Friday last week, according to the central bank’s data.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
RSS