The US dollar held firm on Friday amid news that US banking giant Citigroup, hard-hit by a sharp downturn in the US housing market, posted a smaller than expected quarterly loss.
The euro was quoted at US$1.5846 from US$1.5850 late on Thursday in New York.
The dollar meanwhile firmed to ¥106.95 from ¥106.37 on Thursday.
The news from Citigroup, one of the biggest US banks, helped calm jitters about the health of the financial sector in the world’s largest economy.
The bank posted a US$2.495 billion quarterly loss on more hefty real estate writeoffs in results that were not as bad as had been feared.
The loss, amounting to US$0.54 a share, was somewhat better than anticipated on Wall Street, where analysts had been expecting a deficit of US$0.61 a share.
“Several other US banks have reported better than expected second-quarter earnings, relieving some of the worst concerns about the US financial markets and contributing to yesterday’s strong equity market performance and dollar short covering,” said Hilary Love at PNC Bank.
“A drop in oil prices also helped the US dollar,” she said.
In late New York trading, the dollar stood at 1.0223 Swiss francs from SF1.0197 on Thursday.
The pound was at US$1.990 after US$2.0014.
The Philippine peso led gains among Asian currencies last week after the central bank on Thursday raised its benchmark interest rate by more than most economists forecast to temper inflation.
The peso rallied to its biggest weekly gain in almost seven years as crude oil headed for the biggest weekly slump since December 2004.
The peso gained 2.6 percent this week to 44.455 a dollar, the most since the week ended Aug. 10, 2001, the Bankers Association of the Philippines said.
The South Korean won completed its biggest weekly loss this month as overseas investors reduced their holdings of local shares for a 30th straight day, boosting demand for dollars.
The currency pared last week’s advance, the biggest in a decade, on speculation the Bank of Korea ended purchases of its own currency. Vice Finance Minister Kim Dong-soo said on Tuesday inflation could damp the economy as the government trimmed its growth estimate for this year to 4.7 percent from 6 percent.
The won declined 1.2 percent for the week to 1,013.80 per dollar, according to Seoul Money Brokerages Ltd.
The Malaysian ringgit fell for a third day on Friday on concern a leadership struggle would distract the government from taking measures to tackle inflation and spur economic growth.
The ringgit weakened 0.3 percent to 3.2413 versus the dollar, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
Elsewhere, the New Taiwan dollar strengthened 0.1 percent last week to NT$30.36 and Indonesia’s rupiah rose 0.1 percent to 9,152. The Singaporean dollar rose 0.4 percent to S$1.3532 per dollar, Vietnam’s dong added 0.3 percent to 16,795 and Thailand’s baht rose 1 percent to 33.33 for its best week since February.
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
Thirty Taiwanese firms, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), yesterday launched a silicon photonics industry alliance, aiming to accelerate the medium’s development and address the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) devices like data centers. As the world is ushering in a new AI era with tremendous demand for computing power and algorithms, energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue, TSMC vice president of integrated interconnect and packaging business C.K. Hsu (徐國晉) told a media briefing in Taipei. To solve this issue, it is essential to introduce silicon photonics and copackaged optics (CPO)
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
GRAFT PROBE: Critics questioned Ko claiming he did not know about the Core Pacific floor area ratio issue until this year, citing a 2021 video in which he was asked about it Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released without bail early yesterday, while his deputy during his tenure as Taipei mayor was detained and held incommunicado after being questioned since Friday over graft allegations related to a shopping center redevelopment project. Prosecutors on Saturday filed a request with the Taipei District Court to officially detain Ko and former Taipei deputy mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲) over allegations surrounding the redevelopment of Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心). The court yesterday determined that the evidence provided by prosecutors was insufficient to justify the detention of Ko and ordered his
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