Asian currencies advanced, led by South Korea’s won and Malaysia’s ringgit, as concern about the pace of a US economic recovery cooled demand for the US dollar.
The won, the ringgit and the New Taiwan dollar all climbed the most in three weeks on Thursday and ICE’s Dollar Index declined after the US reported an unexpected drop in new home sales for last month. Taiwan’s currency was supported by data released yesterday showing pickups in export orders and industrial production.
“The view for medium-term Asian currency strength is still very much alive and kicking,” said Emmanuel Ng, a currency strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp in Singapore. “We see chances for the dollar to strengthen on a slightly more enduring scale once Fed rate-hike expectations materialize further.”
The won climbed 0.7 percent to 1,175.05 per US dollar in Seoul on Thursday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The ringgit rose 0.3 percent to 3.4305 as of 4:25pm in Kuala Lumpur.
Elsewhere, the Thai baht traded at 33.36 per US dollar on Thursday, from 33.35 on Wednesday. China’s yuan was little changed at 6.8282 on Thursday, from 6.8284. India’s rupee gained 0.3 percent to 46.74.
The US dollar dropped against the NT dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange on Friday, falling NT$0.055 from Thursday to close at NT$32.245. The Taiwanese currency ended last week at NT$32.278 against the greenback.
The US dollar was poised to end three consecutive weeks of gains against the euro on speculation the Federal Reserve will maintain stimulus measures to secure the US economy’s recovery.
The US dollar was at US$1.4390 per euro at 4:33pm in Tokyo from US$1.4338 a week ago and US$1.4380 on Thursday in New York. It appreciated to US$1.4218 on Tuesday, the strongest level since Sept. 4, and fell back to US$1.4418 on Thursday, the lowest since Dec. 17.
The greenback lost 0.4 percent this week following a 1.9 percent advance the previous week. The US dollar traded at ¥91.45 from ¥91.54 on Thursday. It rose 1.1 percent this week. The euro was at ¥131.65 from ¥131.63 in New York. It gained 1.5 percent this week following a 0.4 percent decline.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SECURITY: The New Zealand and Australian navies also sailed military vessels through the Strait yesterday to assert the right of freedom of navigation The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force on Wednesday made its first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait in response to the intrusion by a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft into Japan’s sovereign airspace last month, Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. The Japanese news platform reported that the destroyer JS Sazanamisailed down through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, citing sources in the Japanese government with knowledge of the matter. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment on the reports at a regular briefing because they concern military operations. Military vessels from New Zealand and Australia also sailed through the Strait on the same day, Wellington’s defense ministry
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is set to issue sea and land warnings for Tropical Storm Krathon as projections showed that the tropical storm could strengthen into a typhoon as it approaches Taiwan proper, the CWA said yesterday. The sea warning is scheduled to take effect this morning and the land warning this evening, it said. The storm formed yesterday morning and in the evening reached a point 620 nautical miles (1,148km) southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, moving west-southwest at 4 kph as it strengthened, the CWA said. Its radius measured between 220km and 250km, it added. Krathon is projected
SOVEREIGNTY EMPHASIZED: President William Lai said that Taiwan ‘absolutely will not sign’ an agreement with Beijing implying that the nation is part of China Taiwan hopes to join like-minded nations under the democratic umbrella and jointly counter authoritarian aggression, President William Lai (賴清德) said in a prerecorded speech during the annual Concordia Summit in New York on Tuesday. Lai addressed the summit via video at Concordia’s invitation, using the opportunity to speak on the issue of Chinese aggression toward Taiwan and Beijing’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758. Lai’s comments came on the heels of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, which opened on Tuesday. China has “distorted” UN Resolution 2758 “in support of its ‘one China’ principle,” he said. Through its misinterpretation