The US dollar fell the most against the euro in 14 months and dropped to the lowest level this year versus the yen as economic reports added to evidence that the US recovery is losing momentum.
The greenback touched a level weaker than US$1.30 versus the shared currency as minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting last month indicated policy makers trimmed their forecasts for growth. The euro rallied for a third straight week against the US dollar before partial results of stress tests on the region’s banking system due on Friday.
“It’s really dollar weakness based on some evidence the economy is slowing,” said Vassili Serebriakov, a currency strategist at Wells Fargo & Co in New York. “The economic indicators are pointing strongly toward slower growth in the second half of the year.”
The US dollar declined 2.24 percent, the most since May last year, to US$1.2930 per euro on Friday, from US$1.2641 on July 9. It touched US$1.3008 on Friday, the weakest level since May 10. The US currency dropped 2.3 percent to ¥86.57, from ¥88.62, after reaching ¥86.27 on Friday, the lowest level since Dec. 1. The euro was little changed at ¥111.96, compared with ¥112.01.
Sterling dropped 0.8 percent to £0.8444 per euro as of 3:55pm in London on Friday after trading as high as £0.8459. The UK currency advanced 1.8 percent against the US dollar to US$1.5334.
Thailand’s baht topped gains in Asian currencies this week as the central bank joined India, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan in raising interest rates, boosting the yield advantage on the nations’ assets.
The baht strengthened 0.3 percent this week to 32.24 per US dollar in Bangkok, and reached 32.22, the highest level since May 10, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Singapore’s dollar rose 0.2 percent to S$1.3757 for a third week of gains.
Malaysia’s currency dropped 0.4 percent from a week ago to 3.2100 per US dollar, paring this year’s advance to 6.9 percent.
Twelve-month yuan non-deliverable forwards traded at 6.6625 per US dollar from 6.6620 at the end of last week, reflecting odds the currency will strengthen 1.7 percent from Friday’s spot rate of 6.7767.
The New Taiwan dollar had a weekly loss of 0.1 percent as the central bank intervened to counter appreciation that may hurt exports, according to traders familiar with the monetary authority’s operations, who declined to be identified.
The NT dollar closed at NT$32.143 on Friday, from NT$32.125 a week ago.
Elsewhere this week, India’s rupee dropped 0.3 percent to 46.7825 per US dollar and South Korea’s won fell 0.6 percent to 1,203.39. Indonesia’s rupiah slipped 0.1 percent to 9,051 from 9,043 on July 9.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty. Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month. The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing. The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said. Sun made the remarks when
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
BROAD AGREEMENT: The two are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff to 15% and a commitment for TSMC to build five more fabs, a ‘New York Times’ report said Taiwan and the US have reached a broad consensus on a trade deal, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said yesterday, after a report said that Washington is set to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent. The New York Times on Monday reported that the two nations are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent and commit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to building at least five more facilities in the US. “The agreement, which has been under negotiation for months, is being legally scrubbed and could be announced this month,” the paper said,
MIXED SOURCING: While Taiwan is expanding domestic production, it also sources munitions overseas, as some, like M855 rounds, are cheaper than locally made ones Taiwan and the US plan to jointly produce 155mm artillery shells, as the munition is in high demand due to the Ukraine-Russia war and should be useful in Taiwan’s self-defense, Armaments Bureau Director-General Lieutenant General Lin Wen-hsiang (林文祥) told lawmakers in Taipei yesterday. Lin was responding to questions about Taiwan’s partnership with allies in producing munitions at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. Given the intense demand for 155mm artillery shells in Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion, and in light of Taiwan’s own defensive needs, Taipei and Washington plan to jointly produce 155mm shells, said Lin,
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