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
On Ireland’s blustery western seaboard, researchers are gleefully flying giant kites — not for fun, but in the hope of generating renewable electricity and sparking a “revolution” in wind energy. “We use a kite to capture the wind and a generator at the bottom of it that captures the power,” said Padraic Doherty of Kitepower, the Dutch firm behind the venture. At its test site in operation since September 2023 near the small town of Bangor Erris, the team transports the vast 60-square-meter kite from a hangar across the lunar-like bogland to a generator. The kite is then attached by a
Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準精密), a metal casing supplier owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday announced plans to invest US$1 billion in the US over the next decade as part of its business transformation strategy. The Apple Inc supplier said in a statement that its board approved the investment on Thursday, as part of a transformation strategy focused on precision mold development, smart manufacturing, robotics and advanced automation. The strategy would have a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), the company added. The company said it aims to build a flexible, intelligent production ecosystem to boost competitiveness and sustainability. Foxconn
Leading Taiwanese bicycle brands Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) and Merida Industry Co (美利達工業) on Sunday said that they have adopted measures to mitigate the impact of the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The US announced at the beginning of this month that it would impose a 20 percent tariff on imported goods made in Taiwan, effective on Thursday last week. The tariff would be added to other pre-existing most-favored-nation duties and industry-specific trade remedy levy, which would bring the overall tariff on Taiwan-made bicycles to between 25.5 percent and 31 percent. However, Giant did not seem too perturbed by the
TARIFF CONCERNS: Semiconductor suppliers are tempering expectations for the traditionally strong third quarter, citing US tariff uncertainty and a stronger NT dollar Several Taiwanese semiconductor suppliers are taking a cautious view of the third quarter — typically a peak season for the industry — citing uncertainty over US tariffs and the stronger New Taiwan dollar. Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科技) said that customers accelerated orders in the first half of the year to avoid potential tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump’s administration. As a result, it anticipates weaker-than-usual peak-season demand in the third quarter. The US tariff plan, announced on April 2, initially proposed a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese goods. Its implementation was postponed by 90 days to July 9, then
RSS