The US dollar yesterday continued its upswing, reaching its highest level against the New Taiwan dollar in 34 months on expectations that the US Federal Reserve would maintain its aggressive monetary policy, dealers said.
The greenback rose NT$0.057 from the previous day to close at NT$30.588 on the Taipei foreign exchange market, the highest level since Oct. 21, 2019, when it closed at NT$30.611.
The hike in the US dollar rate was driven by investors’ expectations that the Fed would raise interest rates by another 150 basis points, after Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester earlier this week said that she expected the benchmark interest rate to climb above 4 percent by early next year, dealers said.
Mester’s remarks came after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday last week indicated that the US central bank was likely to maintain a rate hike cycle “for some time” to stamp out inflation.
Against that background, the US dollar index, which tracks the currencies of the US’ major trading partners, rose above 109, as foreign investors moved their funds out of the region, pushing down regional currencies, dealers said.
The weakness of the New Taiwan dollar also reflected a drop in other regional currencies, in particular the yen, which fell below ￥140 against the US dollar at one point for the first time since 1998, they said.
In addition, a 0.87 percent fall on the benchmark TAIEX put pressure on the New Taiwan dollar, after foreign institutional investors yesterday sold a net NT$14.63 billion of shares.
This week, the greenback rose NT$0.370, or 1.2 percent, against the New Taiwan dollar, marking the sixth consecutive week of gains.
The US dollar is expected to rise to NT$30.80, driven by higher interest rates in the US, dealers said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
STABLE RESULTS: Despite June’s lower consolidated revenue, second-quarter sales still reached a record high, driven by demand for chips for AI applications Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported consolidated sales of NT$263.71 billion (US$9.02 billion) for last month, its second-lowest monthly result this year. The world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement that its revenue last month only fared better than the NT$260.01 billion posted in February. Last month’s figure rose 26.9 percent from a year earlier, but slumped 17.7 percent from May, the company said. However, second-quarter revenue reached NT$933.8 billion, a record high for a single quarter, company data showed. The figure represented growth of 11.26 percent from the first quarter and 38.6 percent from a year earlier. Previously, TSMC said that
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