An Asian currency gauge rose for a second week as policy makers stepped up efforts to revive economies reeling from the global recession, raising speculation overseas investors are returning to emerging markets.
Malaysia is prepared to take “radical” steps to boost the economy, the government said on Thursday, while Indonesia a day earlier cut interest rates for a third straight month. Taiwan will offer tax breaks and subsidized loans to lure local investors back from China, which is increasing export tax rebates for textiles. US President Barack Obama urged lawmakers on Thursday to pass his economic stimulus plan or face “catastrophe.”
The Philippine peso capped the biggest weekly advance in a month. India’s rupee had a second week of gains and Malaysia’s ringgit traded at a one-week high as regional stocks rallied.
The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index, which tracks the region’s 10 most-active currencies excluding the yen, rose 0.4 percent for the week to 105.10.
The peso climbed 0.5 percent on Friday to 47.202 per US dollar, a weekly gain of 0.4 percent. India’s rupee advanced 0.3 percent this week to 48.7250 versus the US currency.
Taiwan, China, Malaysia and the Philippines will all issue data on exports next week, with economists surveyed by Bloomberg News forecasting contractions in each nation. The Bank of Korea also meets on interest rates.
The New Taiwan dollar declined this week on speculation falling exports and the slowing economy will deter overseas investors.
Economists are expecting overseas sales from Taiwan slid 48 percent last month, following a 42 percent decline a month earlier, according to a Bloomberg survey before the trade report on Feb. 9.
The central bank may seek to weaken its currency to help exports, said AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the world’s third-biggest producer of liquid-crystal displays.
The NT dollar fell 0.5 percent this week to NT$33.750 from NT$33.57 on Jan. 23, when local markets closed for the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, according to Taipei Forex Inc.
The South Korean currency rose 0.1 percent to 1,383.80 per dollar, paring this week’s loss to 0.3 percent, as global funds bought more local shares than they sold for an eighth day, the longest run of net purchases since April 2007.
The Chinese yuan was little changed at 6.8360 from a week ago.
The US dollar weakened against the euro on Friday after another horrific set of US employment figures dented its safe-haven allure.
The euro was at US$1.2943 at 10pm GMT, up from US$1.2786 late on Thursday.
The dollar rose to ¥91.83 from ¥91.13. In late New York trading on Friday, the US dollar slipped to 1.615 Swiss francs from SF1.1724 late on Thursday.
The pound rose to US$1.4789 from US$1.4623.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
RSS