The dollar topped ¥100 for the first time in five months but weakened against other major currencies on Friday as traders assessed the impact of a weak US employment on economic recovery prospects.
At 9pm GMT, the euro fetched US$1.3483 from US$1.3461 late on Thursday in New York.
The dollar meanwhile rose to ¥100.29 from ¥99.52 as investors welcomed the G20 summit pledge to step up efforts to tackle the economic crisis.
“The actions by Washington and leaders of the 20 largest economies have helped to restore risk appetite,” Kathy Lien at Global Forex Trading said.
In late New York trading, the dollar stood at 1.1301 Swiss francs from SF1.1340 on Thursday.
The pound was at US$1.4836 after US$1.4725.
Asian currencies rose for a fifth week, the longest winning streak since October 2007 in the wake of the G20 summit.
Eight of the 10 most active Asian currencies outside Japan advanced in the week after economic reports in China, the US and the UK fueled speculation that demand for regional exports will strengthen.
The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index, which tracks their performance, touched a two-month high on Thursday.
The South Korean won advanced 0.6 percent this week to 1,341.50 per dollar, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The New Taiwan dollar climbed 1.2 percent to NT$33.38 and the Malaysian ringgit strengthened 1 percent to 3.5803.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index of regional equities climbed 1.4 percent during the week.
The NT dollar touched an 11-week high on Thursday before paring its advance on reported intervention. The central bank bought at least US$1.2 billion of US dollars on Thursday to counter foreign investors’ and local corporations’ purchases of the Taiwanese currency, the Taipei-based Economic Daily News said on Friday.
Elsewhere, the Singapore dollar climbed 0.6 percent this week to S$1.5051, Indonesia’s rupiah rose 0.2 percent to 11,475 and the Philippine peso gained 0.4 percent to 47.862.
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
RSS