The yen chalked up heavy gains on Friday across the board, extending a week of gains on the back of heightened speculation about a possible revaluation of the Chinese yuan.
The US dollar and particularly the euro were sharply lower versus the Japanese and other Asian currencies, most of which which are seen as potential beneficiaries of any move by China to let its currency appreciate. The yen also benefited from a drop in crude price below US$50 per barrel in the New York afternoon.
The dollar fell to a five-and-a-half week low versus the yen, falling 1.1 percent from late Thursday. The euro plummeted to an 11-week low against the yen, dropping 1.3 percent over the session.
The dollar, which had fallen back earlier in the session, was actually higher versus the euro late in the New York afternoon. The huge drops in the euro-yen exchange rate aided the dollar against the single currency, as did rising US equities and longer-term Treasury yields.
In late New York trading, the dollar was at ¥104.79, from ¥105.98 late Thursday, while the euro fell to ¥134.89, from ¥136.73 late Thursday. The euro has now lost 4 percent versus the yen since Thursday of last week.
The euro was at US$1.2869 from US$1.2894. Versus the Swiss franc, the dollar was at SF1.1951 from SF1.1930, while the pound was at US$1.9074 from US$1.9064.
The talk about a yuan revaluation reached a fevered pitch in the Asian session. A front-page article in Friday's China Securities Journal, a state-owned financial daily, suggested the time was "ripe" for further currency reform, citing unnamed analysts.
However, it was a sudden dip in the dollar's value that spurred speculative activity. After trading in a tiny range of 8.2763 yuan to 8.2765 yuan for most of this year, the US dollar briefly tumbled to a low of 8.2700 against the yuan during the early afternoon in Shanghai's spot market on Friday -- roughly a three-year low.
Within minutes, a fresh wave of revaluation speculation surged around Asian markets. The dollar remained lower even though the dollar/yuan rate quickly bounced back to a normal level and China's central bank said it had no plan to announce any policy change.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
Cryptocurrencies gave a lukewarm reception to US President Donald Trump’s first policy moves on digital assets, notching small gains after he commissioned a report on regulation and a crypto reserve. Bitcoin has been broadly steady since Trump took office on Monday and was trading at about US$105,000 yesterday as some of the euphoria around a hoped-for revolution in cryptocurrency regulation ebbed. Smaller cryptocurrency ether has likewise had a fairly steady week, although was up 5 percent in the Asia day to US$3,420. Bitcoin had been one of the most spectacular “Trump trades” in financial markets, gaining 50 percent to break above US$100,000 and
RSS