The US dollar on Friday rose against major currencies such as the euro and yen, with traders consolidating positions amid competing forces that are pulling the currency in different directions: the surge in COVID-19 cases, on the one hand, and positive vaccine news, on the other.
The possible resumption of US stimulus talks for COVID-19 relief has also weighed on the US dollar as a safe haven.
Republican and Democratic senators on Thursday agreed to revive those discussions.
Overall, the greenback ended the week on a loss against a basket of currencies.
The week started off on a negative note for the US dollar with positive news on a vaccine for COVID-19, but the market has since moved back and forth between focusing on COVID-19 cases and the virus vaccine.
Pfizer Inc said that it has applied for emergency use authorization in the US for its COVID-19 vaccine.
“We think we are in the early stages of a recovery in the global economy and trade from the shock of the pandemic, and this will further weigh on the dollar and support the euro,” said Jonathan Petersen, a markets economist at Capital Economics.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin on Friday defended his decision to end several of the Federal Reserve’s key pandemic lending programs on Dec. 31, saying that the US Congress should use the money to help small US companies with grants instead.
The US dollar briefly rose overnight after the Mnuchin news late on Thursday.
“The request comes as most lending facilities haven’t been tapped for more than the amount committed by the Treasury to backstop the programs, suggesting market functionality is sufficient to warrant their expiration,” Monex Europe said in a research note.
In afternoon trading, the US dollar was flat against basket of currencies at 92.369 in a quiet day for currency markets.
In Taipei, the New Taiwan dollar lost NT$0.002 against the greenback, to close at the day’s low of NT$28.820. For the week, the NT dollar gained 0.09 percent against the US dollar.
The euro was down 0.1 percent against the greenback at US$1.1859, posting a small weekly gain. Action Economics noted some pre-weekend selling in the euro going into the London close.
“The lack of progress between the European Union and the UK on Brexit trade talks has likely kept a cap on the euro, despite generally waning US dollar sentiment,” it said in its daily blog.
The US dollar was up 0.1 percent versus the yen at ¥103.85.
Additional reporting by CNA, with staff writer.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last