A measure tracking 20 emerging-market currencies gained for the first time in the new year, rising 0.1 percent. The index dropped 1.6 percent this week, set for the sharpest fall since the period ended Dec. 11.
The yuan rose 0.1 percent. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the daily fixing, which restricts onshore moves to a maximum 2 percent on either side, at 6.5636 a US dollar, 0.02 percent stronger than the previous day’s reference rate. It was cut 1.42 percent over the last eight days.
“The PBOC may have been surprised how badly China and global stock markets reacted to yuan depreciation,” Singapore-based Barclays PLC foreign-exchange strategist Dennis Tan said. “They may want to keep the yuan stable for a while to help calm the stock market.”
The New Taiwan dollar rose NT$0.029 on Friday to 33.501, compared with NT$33.066 on Dec. 31.
South Africa’s rand ended a five-day decline, while Malaysia’s ringgit rose 0.4 percent and Turkey’s lira strengthened for a second day.
The Mexican peso advanced for the first time in six days by 0.3 percent. The central bank sold US$400 million to support the currency after it fell to a record low on Thursday.
The decline in the yuan threatens to spark a cycle of competitive devaluations of currencies, Mexican Minister of Finance Luis Videgaray said.
The won rose for the first time this year, paring its worst weekly drop in three months, as traders judged its declines after North Korea’s nuclear test and a rout in Chinese market to be excessive.
China’s government bonds rose, pushing the 10-year yield to its lowest level in more than a week, as the selloff in equities boosted their safe haven appeal.
The yield on notes due in October 2025 fell five basis points to 2.83 percent, the lowest since its close on Dec. 29.
The yield has declined nine basis points in the past two days, taking its drop this week to three basis points.
Sovereign notes in South Korea fell, pushing up the yield on government debt maturing December 2025 by four basis points to 2.06 percent.
The yield has fallen one basis point this week.
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
An Indian factory producing iPhone components resumed work yesterday after a fire that halted production — the third blaze to disrupt Apple Inc’s local supply chain since the start of last year. Local industrial behemoth Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu, which was shut down by the unexplained fire on Saturday, is a key linchpin of Apple’s nascent supply chain in the country. A spokesperson for subsidiary Tata Electronics Pvt yesterday said that the company would restart work in “many areas of the facility today.” “We’ve been working diligently since Saturday to support our team and to identify the cause of the fire,”
RSS