Oil prices breached US$71 a barrel to their highest level in eight months in Asian trade yesterday on weakness in the US dollar and hopes of a recovery in the global economy, analysts said.
New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, surged US$1.09 to US$71.10 a barrel in the afternoon.
Oil was last seen above US$71 in last October when prices plunged from historic peaks of more than US$147 a barrel last July after the global economic and financial crisis clobbered energy demand.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in July was up US$0.89 to US$70.51.
Analysts attributed the price rise to signs that the worst is over for the recession-hit US economy, the world’s biggest energy consumer, as well as weakness in the US dollar.
A weaker dollar makes dollar-priced crude cheaper for buyers holding stronger currencies. That tends to stimulate demand and push the market higher.
The dollar was down against the yen and the euro in Asia yesterday as fund flows into the greenback, seen as a safe-haven currency, fell amid increased risk appetite, dealers said.
Singapore’s DBS Bank said the US dollar weakness was likely to be a topic during a G8 meeting in Italy this weekend.
“It will be interesting to see how G8 policymakers are coping with the weak underlying tone of the US dollar,” DBS said in a research note.
“Expect discomfort regarding the USD’s [US dollar] weakness on a US-led rise in long-term bond yields worldwide and rising oil prices,” it said.
Oil prices were up even as the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the Energy Department’s analytical and statistics wing, said on Tuesday that global oil demand was expected to fall 2 percent to 83.7 million barrels a day.
“The EIA revised upward its demand forecast,” said Tony Nunan, an energy risk manager with Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo.
“People have been waiting for when the demand would hit rock-bottom, and this is the first sign of that,” he said.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
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