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.
Taiwanese firms have increased investment in the Philippines in recent years as Manila’s ties with Washington deepen and global supply chains continue to shift away from China, an expert at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The Philippines had not been among Taiwanese investors’ top choices in Southeast Asia, CIER Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center director Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈) said at a seminar in Taipei. However, Taiwan’s investment in the country has grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching US $257 million last year, a high in recent years, she said. Although Taiwan’s total investment in the Philippines still lags
HSBC Holdings PLC is deepening its commitment to Taiwan as the economy emerges as one of the bank’s fastest-growing markets globally, driven by an artificial intelligence (AI) investment boom, expanding cross-border trade, and rising wealth creation. “The advantage that Taiwan has is a growth story linked to the semiconductor and broader AI industries, strong underlying corporate performance, and wealth creation,” said Surendra Rosha, HSBC’s co-chief executive for Asia and the Middle East, in an exclusive interview with the Taipei Times on June 2, during this year’s HSBC Taiwan Conference. That combination has helped HSBC cement its position as the most profitable international
Intel Corp regards Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) as a longstanding partner, as the US chipmaker would continue outsourcing production of advanced chips to TSMC, Intel chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) said yesterday. “I don’t look at people as competitors. I look at the collaboration... Nvidia is also, you know, a good friend,” Tan told a news conference following his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei. “It’s a very trusted partnership for us... We are a big, top customer for them, and we’re going to continue doing that,” he said, referring to TSMC, the world’s largest foundry
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said it would work with US chipmaker Intel Corp to jointly develop and deploy next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and intelligent computing platforms in a move to capture booming demand for AI computing systems. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康), said in a statement that the partnership would combine its global manufacturing scale, system integration expertise and AI data center deployment capabilities with Intel’s strengths in processor architecture, silicon technologies and software ecosystem. The companies said they plan to work on equipment used in AI data centers, including server racks powered by
RSS