The New Taiwan dollar rose on Friday, strengthening in tandem with currencies and shares across Asia’s developing nations, as signs that the global financial crisis is easing bolstered demand for emerging-market assets.
The currency has gained about 7 percent against the US dollar since reaching an eight-year low of NT$35.297 in March. The US Federal Reserve said on Thursday it would end one emergency funding program and scale back two others, a sign markets are stabilizing after banks worldwide reported credit losses of almost US$1.5 trillion in the past two years. Overseas investors added to their holdings of Taiwan stocks for a third day.
The Fed announcement “tells us that financial conditions are normalizing; it’s a confirmation of sentiment,” said Dwyfor Evans, a currency strategist at State Street Global Markets in Hong Kong. “The big picture is still in place, one of continued inflows into Taiwan, benefits from the relationship with China, and also continued benefits from what is still a risk-loving environment.”
The NT dollar rose 0.1 percent to close at NT$32.925 on Friday, according to Taipei Forex Inc. The currency will climb to NT$31.50 by the end of the year, Evans forecast.
Elsewhere, Indonesia’s rupiah and the Philippine peso had a weekly gain on optimism overseas investors will buy Asian bonds and stocks after the US Federal Reserve signaled US interest rates will be kept at near zero.
The rupiah was the biggest gainer this week among Asia’s 10 most-active currencies outside Japan as its 10-year bond yielded 7.6 percentage points more than similar-dated US debt, near the highest in a month.
The rupiah climbed 1.8 percent this week to 10,220 per US dollar in Jakarta on Friday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The peso rose 0.2 percent to 48.305 in Manila, according to Tullett Prebon PLC. The Thai baht rose 0.3 percent to 34.07.
The South Korean won fell 1.2 percent this week to 1,284.25 against the US currency, the Vietnamese dong was barely changed at 17,802 and Singapore’s dollar was little changed at S$1.4542.
The US dollar fell against most of its major counterparts after China repeated its call for a supranational currency “delinked” from sovereign nations.
The greenback headed for its biggest weekly loss against the euro in four weeks after the People’s Bank of China said the IMF should manage more of members’ foreign-exchange reserves. A rally in Treasuries this week pushed the yield on the benchmark 10-year note down the most since December, lowering expected returns.
The US currency declined 0.6 percent to US$1.4078 per euro at 3pm in New York, from US$1.3988 on Thursday, extending its loss for the week to 1 percent. The dollar fell 0.8 percent to ¥95.17 from ¥95.95 on Thursday and was poised for a 1.1 percent weekly decline, its third consecutive drop.
The Swiss franc rose against the euro and dollar on speculation traders will test the central bank’s resolve to keep its currency weaker.
The franc climbed 0.6 percent to SF1.5219 against the euro, one of only five major currencies to advance on Friday versus Europe’s 16-nation currency. The franc advanced 1.2 percent to SF1.0814 compared with the US dollar.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat