The euro on Friday rose against the US dollar after strong eurozone inflation figures, while the US dollar edged higher against the yen after US wages data suggested the US Federal Reserve would still hike interest rates two more times this year.
Official flash estimates put eurozone inflation at 1.9 percent in the first quarter of this year, on the verge of crossing over the European Central Bank’s (ECB) target of below, but close to 2 percent, and above estimates for a rise of 1.8 percent.
According to standard EU measures, in Italy it was 2 percent.
That helped drive the euro as high as US$1.0947, just below a five-and-a-half-month high of US$1.0950 struck earlier in the week.
The euro this week rose 2.3 percent against the US dollar from last week’s US$1.07.
Analysts said the latest inflation figures could prompt the ECB to take a more hawkish stance in its June statements by either upgrading its assessment of the European economy or suggesting less need for stimulus.
“There was a reminder this [Friday] morning that maybe inflationary pressures will be coming through and maybe the ECB will have to go away from its super-easy policy,” said Axel Merk, president and chief investment officer of Palo Alto, California-based Merk Investments.
In Taipei, the New Taiwan dollar on Friday fell NT$0.062 against the greenback to NT$30.218, but gained 0.5 percent from last week’s NT$30.363.
The US dollar on Friday rose as much as 0.4 percent against the yen to a session high of ￥111.71, just below a nearly four-week high of ￥111.77 touched on Wednesday, after US Labor Department data showed private wages and salaries accelerated 0.9 percent in the first quarter, marking the largest increase in 10 years.
The data suggested firming inflation and helped boost the US dollar even as the US Commerce Department said GDP increased at a 0.7 percent annual rate.
That was the weakest performance since the first quarter of 2014.
“The GDP data won’t alter the view that the Fed may raise rates in June and then ultimately again in September,” said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange Inc in Washington.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was slightly lower on the day at 99.015, down 0.7 percent from last week’s 99.75.
For the month, the US dollar index fell about 1.3 percent to mark its second straight monthly drop.
The euro gained 2.3 percent for this month to mark its second straight monthly rise against the US dollar, while the US dollar ended the month little changed against the yen.
Additional reporting by CNA
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
‘NO DISRUPTION’: A US trade association said that it was ready to work with the US administration to streamline the program’s requirements and achieve shared goals The White House is seeking to renegotiate US CHIPS and Science Act awards and has signaled delays to some upcoming semiconductor disbursements, two sources familiar with the matter told reporters. The people, along with a third source, said that the new US administration is reviewing the projects awarded under the 2022 law, meant to boost US domestic semiconductor output with US$39 billion in subsidies. Washington plans to renegotiate some of the deals after assessing and changing current requirements, the sources said. The extent of the possible changes and how they would affect agreements already finalized was not immediately clear. It was not known
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
RSS