The US dollar dipped against the euro on Friday as investors sought a safe haven despite economic reports that offered signs of a possible US recovery under way.
The euro was at US$1.5703 around 9pm GMT, up from US$1.5683 late on Thursday. The dollar rose to ¥107.85 from ¥107.19.
“Stronger economic data has driven the US dollar higher against many of the major currencies,” said Kathy Lien, chief strategist at Forex Capital Markets.
“New home sales, consumer confidence and durable goods were all better than the market expected, a sign that the mood of US consumers and businesses may be changing,” she said.
However, Lien warned: “Today’s economic releases were almost too good to be true and for that reason, we are cautiously bullish.”
US durable goods orders rose 0.8 percent last month, much stronger than analyst forecasts for 0.3 percent. Economists said the data suggested that US second-quarter GDP growth could prove healthy.
“Overall, a surprisingly strong report, which supports our view that second-quarter GDP increased by a solid 2.5 percent on the year,” said Paul Ashworth, senior US economist at Capital Economics.
The US government is due to release its initial estimate of second-quarter GDP growth on Thursday. Most analysts expect a smaller acceleration to a 1.8 percent pace.
Pummeled by housing and credit crises, the world’s largest economy grew 1 percent in the first quarter after an anemic 0.6 percent pace in the last three months of the year.
The US Federal Reserve said on Wednesday in its Beige Book report that US economic activity appears to have slowed to a crawl in the past weeks even as price pressures intensified.
The Fed’s latest survey of the US economy will be used by its policymakers for their Aug. 5 meeting. They are widely expected to leave the key interest rate unchanged at 2 percent.
In late New York trading, the pound was at US$1.9913, up from US$1.9865 late on Thursday. The dollar stood at 1.0366 Swiss francs, nearly unchanged from SF1.0364.
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are
LOOKING FOR WHEELS: The military is seeking 8x8 single-chassis vehicles to test the new missile and potentially replace the nation’s existing launch vehicles, the source said Taiwan is developing a hypersonic missile based on the Ching Tien (擎天) supersonic cruise missile, and a Czech-made truck has been tentatively selected as its launch vehicle, a source said yesterday. The Ching Tien, formerly known as Yun Feng (雲峰, “Cloud Peak”), is a domestically developed missile with a range of 1,200km to 2,000km being deployed in casemate-type positions as of last month, an official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The hypersonic missile to be derived from the Ching Tien would feature improved range and a mobile launch platform, while the latter would most likely be a 12x12 single chassis
UP AND DOWN: The route would include a 16.4km underground section from Zuoying to Fongshan and a 9.5km elevated part from Fongshan to Pingtung Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday confirmed a project to extend the high-speed rail (HSR) to Pingtung County through Kaohsiung. Cho made the announcement at a ceremony commemorating the completion of a dome at Kaohsiung Main Station. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications approved the HSR expansion in 2019 using a route that branches off a line from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung’s Zuoying District (左營). The project was ultimately delayed due to a lack of support for the route. The Zuoying route would have trains stop at the Zuoying Station and return to a junction before traveling southward to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝).
Parts of the nation, including in the south, could experience temperatures as low as 7°C early tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. A strong continental cold air mass coupled with the effect of radiative cooling would bring cold weather to several northern cities and counties, and could even affect areas as far south as Tainan early tomorrow, the CWA said. Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties would experience temperatures below 10°C until this evening, according to cold surge advisories issued by the weather agency. The weather across the nation is forecast to remain
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