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.
KEY INDUSTRY: The vice premier discussed a plan to create a non-red drone supply chain by next year, which has been allocated a budget of more than NT$7.2 billion The government has budgeted NT$44.2 billion (US$1.38 billion) to cultivate Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry over the next five years, which would make the nation a major player in the industry’s democratic supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Cho made the remarks during a visit to the facilities of Cub Elecparts Inc (為升電裝). Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝依鳳) also participated in the trip. Cub Elecparts has transitioned from the automotive industry to the defense industry, which is the top priority among the nation’s
SOUTH KOREA DISPUTE: If Seoul continues to ignore its request, Taiwan would change South Korea’s designation on its arrival cards, the foreign ministry said If South Korea does not reply appropriately to a request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, the government would take corresponding measures to change how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. Taipei has asked Seoul to change the wording. Since March 1, South Koreans who hold government-issued Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) have been identified as from “South Korea” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” the
SUFFICIENT: The president said Taiwan has enough oil for next month, with reserves covering more than 100 days and natural gas enough for 12 to 14 days A restart plan for the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春) would be submitted to the Nuclear Safety Commission by the end of the month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, reversing the government’s policy to abolish nuclear energy. On May 17 last year, Taiwan shut down its last nuclear reactor and became the first non-nuclear nation in East Asia, fulfilling the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s pledge of a “nuclear-free homeland.” Even without nuclear power, Taiwan can maintain a stable electricity supply until 2032,
DEROGATORY: WTO host Cameroon’s designation of Taiwan as a ‘province of China’ seriously undermines the nation’s status and rights as a WTO member, MOFA said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned Cameroon for listing Taiwan as “Taiwan, Province of China” in visa documents for an upcoming WTO ministerial conference, a move that led to Taiwan’s withdrawal from the event. The designation “seriously undermined” Taiwan’s status and rights as a WTO member, the ministry said in a statement. It is the first time since 2001 that Taiwan has declined to attend a WTO Ministerial Conference. The conference is scheduled to take place from Thursday to Sunday next week in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon. Taiwan had planned to send a delegation led by Minister Without Portfolio
RSS