The New Taiwan dollar yesterday advanced another 0.9 percent to hit a seven-month high of NT$29.7 versus the US dollar in Taipei trading, rising above the NT$30 mark for a second straight day on the back of hot money inflows, dealers said.
This week alone, the local currency picked up 2.2 percent after global capital regained interest in emerging markets, including Taiwan, on expectations that the US Federal Reserve would slow its pace of tightening, making investment in vehicles other than the greenback more attractive, dealers said.
The speculation won support from the Fed’s latest interest rate hike of 0.25 percentage points, moderating from its previous increases of 0.5 to 0.75 percentage points. Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday said that inflation is slowing and the US would avoid a recession this year.
Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei Times
Global bourses welcomed the Fed’s dovish-leaning stance, with the TAIEX yesterday rallying 1.14 percent, or 175.03 points, to 15,595.16, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) data showed.
Foreign institutional investors yesterday increased holdings in local shares by a net NT$22.54 billion (US$758.9 million), after raising their stakes for the past 13 consecutive sessions, TWSE statistics showed.
If the trend continues, it would lend further strength to the local currency, dealers said.
Foreign exchange turnover yesterday amounted to US$1.66 billion at Taipei Forex Inc, the central bank said.
In other developments, the Cabinet yesterday appointed former vice premier Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) as chairman of state-owned Taiwan Financial Holdings Co (台灣金控). Shen had also served as minister of economic affairs prior to his stint as vice premier from 2020 to last month.
Incumbent Taiwan Financial Holdings chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) is to stay on as the chairman of the group’s flagship subsidiary Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行).
Shen’s appointment takes effect today.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new