The New Taiwan dollar strengthened as stock gains fueled optimism that overseas funds would add to their holdings of local shares as risk appetite increases.
The local currency advanced as the benchmark TAIEX extended a seven-week rally, rising 1.3 percent yesterday. The MSCI Asia Pacific index jumped as much as 0.9 percent after the Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 3.8 percent on Friday. Foreign investors bought US$804 million more Taiwanese shares than they sold this month, stock exchange data showed.
US STOCKS
“The [New] Taiwan dollar is stronger this morning due to the stock market which has gained quite a bit,” said Henry Lin, a foreign-exchange trader at Shin Kong Commercial Bank (新光商銀) in Taipei. “Investors are also taking their cues from US stocks.”
The local currency rose 0.3 percent to NT$33.680 against the greenback as of 3:04pm, according to Taipei Forex Inc. The currency fell last week on speculation the central bank intervened to stem gains.
“The central bank has not been in the market so far this morning but it could come in the afternoon,” Lin said. “The central bank doesn’t want the Taiwan dollar to appreciate too much.”
The central bank warned local banks last Tuesday not to speculate on gains in the NT dollar, the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported on Wednesday, citing unidentified traders.
CROSS-STRAIT TIES
The local currency also strengthened on optimism of improved cross-strait relations.
Taiwan plans to propose to China that they start talks on cross-strait economic cooperation at the end of this year, Chao Chien-min (趙建民), deputy chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday.
“The government’s policy to improve Taiwan’s relations with China is also helping sentiment in the market,” Lin said.
China and Taiwan took another step toward free conversion of their currencies after the People’s Bank of China agreed to buy back the yuan in Taiwan, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday, citing an unidentified official.
The two sides may use the Bank of China Ltd (中國工商銀行) and the Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行) for settlement, the report said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) yesterday said that Intel Corp would find itself in the same predicament as it did four years ago if its board does not come up with a core business strategy. Chang made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions about the ailing US chipmaker, once an archrival of TSMC, during a news conference in Taipei for the launch of the second volume of his autobiography. Intel unexpectedly announced the immediate retirement of former chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger last week, ending his nearly four-year tenure and ending his attempts to revive the
WORLD DOMINATION: TSMC’s lead over second-placed Samsung has grown as the latter faces increased Chinese competition and the end of clients’ product life cycles Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) retained the No. 1 title in the global pure-play wafer foundry business in the third quarter of this year, seeing its market share growing to 64.9 percent to leave South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co, the No. 2 supplier, further behind, Taipei-based TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report. TSMC posted US$23.53 billion in sales in the July-September period, up 13.0 percent from a quarter earlier, which boosted its market share to 64.9 percent, up from 62.3 percent in the second quarter, the report issued on Monday last week showed. TSMC benefited from the debut of flagship
A former ASML Holding NV employee is facing a lawsuit in the Netherlands over suspected theft of trade secrets, Dutch public broadcaster NOS said, in the latest breach of the maker of advanced chip-manufacturing equipment. The 43-year-old Russian engineer, who is suspected of stealing documents such as microchip manuals from ASML, is expected to appear at a court in Rotterdam today, NOS reported on Friday. He is accused of multiple violations of the sanctions legislation and has been given a 20-year entry ban by the Dutch government, the report said. The Dutch company makes machines needed to produce high-end chips that power
Taiwan would remain in the same international network for carrying out cross-border payments and would not be marginalized on the world stage, despite jostling among international powers, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) said yesterday. Yang made the remarks during a speech at an annual event organized by Financial Information Service Co (財金資訊), which oversees Taiwan’s banking, payment and settlement systems. “The US dollar will remain the world’s major cross-border payment tool, given its high liquidity, legality and safe-haven status,” Yang said. Russia is pushing for a new cross-border payment system and highlighted the issue during a BRICS summit in October. The existing system
RSS