The US dollar declined to the lowest level this year against six major US trading partners as optimism that a global recovery is near reduced demand for the greenback as a refuge.
The Swedish krona advanced against the euro to the strongest level since November after a government report on Friday showed the contraction in the Scandinavian country slowed last quarter. US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress last month that policy makers will maintain a “highly accommodative” monetary policy for an extended period.
“It’s clear that the economy is recovering,” said Adam Boyton, a strategist in New York at Deutsche Bank AG, the world’s largest currency trader. “Ben Bernanke is making it clear that although he has an exit strategy, he’s not going to use it any time soon. That’s probably been a small negative for the dollar.”
The dollar fell 1.6 percent last month to US$1.4257 per euro in New York, from US$1.4033 on June 30. The US currency fell 1.7 percent to ¥94.68, from ¥96.36 a month earlier. The Japanese currency gained 0.2 percent this month to ¥134.99 per euro, the first advance in three months.
The Dollar Index, which the ICE futures exchange uses to track the currency against counterparts including the yen, pound and Swedish krona, touched 78.22 on Friday, the lowest since Dec. 18. The index dropped 2.3 percent in July.
The dollar declined 1.3 percent versus the euro on Friday, the biggest loss in a month, as a report showing the US economy shrank less than economists forecast added to signs the global recession may be ending, encouraging investors to buy higher-yielding assets overseas.
The Canadian dollar was the best performer among the major currencies, rising 7.9 percent versus the greenback, as stock gains and higher crude oil prices burnished the appeal of currencies linked to growth.
Canada’s currency touched C$1.075 against the greenback on Tuesday, the strongest level since Oct. 3, as crude oil reached US$69 a barrel. The currency ended the month at C$1.078 after a government report showed the nation’s economy shrank a more-than-forecast 0.5 percent in May.
South Korea’s won and Indonesia’s rupiah led gains in Asian currencies this week as overseas investors added to holdings of emerging-market assets on signs the global economy is recovering.
The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index, which tracks Asia’s 10 most-traded currencies outside of Japan, had a third weekly advance after Japanese and South Korean manufacturers increased production and South Korea posted a current-account surplus for a fifth month.
The won gained 1.7 percent to 1,228.42 per dollar in Seoul and the rupiah rose 0.5 percent to 9,950, data compiled by Bloomberg show. It reached 9,910 on Friday, the strongest since Oct. 24. The Asia Dollar index climbed 0.3 percent.
The won was the best-performing regional currency last month, while the Philippine peso was little changed and the Malaysian ringgit fell 0.1 percent. The Indian rupee traded at 47.9275 per dollar, a four-week high, from 48.2300 a week ago.
The New Taiwan dollar rose 0.4 percent in the past week to NT$32.818.
Elsewhere, the peso traded at 48.085 from 48.067 a week ago. The baht fell 0.1 percent to 34.01. It reached 33.88 on Tuesday, the highest level since Oct. 1, and is the third-best performing Asian currency outside Japan this year.
The ringgit climbed 0.3 percent this week to 3.5185 in Kuala Lumpur.
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
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