The US dollar staged a small but significant recovery on Friday, helped by favorable US corporate news and recovering risk appetites.
The euro fell to US$1.5814 around 9pm GMT from US$1.5886 late on Thursday.
The dollar rose to ¥103.66 from ¥102.48 on Thursday.
“The main force behind the latest reappearance of risk appetite was a new 2008 low in equity volatility yesterday on the back of constructive earnings releases and outlooks by CEOs,” analysts at UBS wrote in a client note. “In that respect today’s announcement by a major US bank of a Q1 loss that was near consensus and considerably lower than in Q4 was constructive enough to further boost risk appetite.”
The bank in question was Citigroup Inc, which reported a US$5.1 billion net loss in the first quarter, half the US$10 billion loss it suffered in the fourth quarter of last year.
To some extent the dollar along with the pound also got a boost as the central banks of both countries sought to put some distance between their support for mortgage and credit markets from monetary policy, in turn allowing them to sound more hawkish on inflation.
The Bank of England is finalizing a plan that would see it accepting mortgage-backed assets in exchange for Treasury gilts in order to kick-start interbank lending back to life, a measure adopted earlier by the US Federal Reserve.
The Fed’s program is allowing rate-setters to “de-couple” their monetary policy from their support for financial markets and mortgage lending.
In late New York trading on Friday, the dollar stood at 1.0180 Swiss francs, up from SF1.0055 late on Thursday.
The pound was at US$1.9978, up from US$1.9918.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
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