The US dollar climbed to three-week peaks on Friday, still benefiting from better-than-expected US retail sales data released on Thursday that backed expectations for a reduction of asset purchases by the US Federal Reserve before the end of the year.
The US dollar index, a gauge of the greenback’s value against six major currencies, rose 0.3 percent to 93.25, its highest since late last month. The index rose 0.7 percent for the week.
In Taipei, the New Taiwan dollar fell against the greenback, losing NT$0.021 to close at NT$27.736, down 0.2 percent for the week.
The Fed holds a two-day monetary policy meeting next week and is expected to open discussions on reducing its monthly bond purchases, while tying any actual change to US job growth this month and beyond.
“With tapering, there is definitely some upside in front-end and intermediate yields and should be dollar-positive upon the initial announcement,” said Simon Harvey, senior foreign exchange market analyst at Monex Europe in London.
Speculation about a Fed taper this year gathered pace after US retail sales unexpectedly increased last month, data showed on Thursday, rising 0.7 percent from the previous month, despite expectations of a 0.8 percent fall.
The euro on Friday slid about 0.3 percent against the greenback to US$1.1726, down 0.8 percent for the week.
The University of Michigan consumer sentiment for this month inched higher to 71 versus the final reading of 70.3 for last month, but overall analysts said the rise was nowhere near the improvements seen in the Empire States and Philadelphia Fed manufacturing surveys. The US dollar held gains after the Michigan sentiment report.
The US dollar on Friday rose 0.2 percent against the Swiss franc at SF0.9299, after earlier hitting a five-month high.
The greenback rose 0.3 percent to ￥110.025. The yen has shown a limited reaction to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership race, which formally starts on Friday ahead of a Sept. 29 vote. The party’s parliamentary dominance means its new leader will become prime minister.
The US dollar also rose to a two-week high against the offshore yuan and was up 0.1 percent at 6.4642. The Chinese currency is being pressured by growing worries about China’s real-estate sector as investors fear property giant China Evergrande Group (恒大集團) could default on its coupon payment next week.
The Evergrande saga follows a series of regulatory clampdowns in China that has knocked investor confidence in the local stock market, as well as signs growth there is slowing.
The British pound fell about 0.2 percent to US$1.3740, down 0.7 percent weekly, as UK retail sales undershot expectations.
However, with investors bringing forward forecasts for a Bank of England interest rate hike to the middle of next year, sterling remains supported and is near one-month highs.
Additional reporting by CNA, with staff writer
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
RSS