The US dollar on Friday gained against the euro for the first week since the middle of June after data showed a strong uptick in US business activity, while the single currency was held down as this month’s batch of European business surveys pointed to a stuttering economic recovery.
US business activity this month snapped back to the highest since early last month as companies in the manufacturing and services sectors saw a resurgence in new orders even as new COVID-19 cases remain stubbornly high across the country.
“The Markit PMI [purchasing managers’ index] flash readings show the US is outperforming Europe,” Oanda Corp senior market analyst Edward Moya said.
The data contrasted with weakness in the eurozone, as the pent-up demand unleashed last month by the easing of COVID-19 lockdowns dwindled.
“Clearly the PMI numbers this morning suggest that Europe is losing a little momentum here and that we’re seeing some turbulence in other areas of the global economy. So that is weighing on the performance gap between the US and its major counterparts,” Cambridge Global Payments chief market strategist Karl Schamotta said.
The US dollar index against a basket of major currencies rose 0.4 percent to 93.24, rising 0.1 percent for the week.
In Taipei on Friday, the New Taiwan dollar rose against the greenback, gaining NT$0.010 to close at NT$29.512, rising 0.1 percent from last week.
The euro dipped to a one-week low of US$1.175 against the greenback earlier, before rising back to US$1.179, down 0.61 percent on the day and inching down 0.08 percent for the week.
The greenback escaped a ninth consecutive weekly decline.
The recovery in the US dollar began on Wednesday after the US central bank’s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee released minutes from its last meeting, the tone of which was more dovish than expected.
The minutes prompted US dollar bears to buy into the heavily shorted currency, fueling its biggest one-day surge in more than two months.
“You’re seeing a bit of an unwind in the short dollar trade that had gained so much momentum in the last couple months,” Schamotta said.
Additional reporting by CNA, with staff writer
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
WARNING SHOT: The US president has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all imported vehicles, and similar or higher duties on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that a trade deal with China was “possible” — a key target in the US leader’s tariffs policy. The US in 2020 had already agreed to “a great trade deal with China” and a new deal was “possible,” Trump said. Trump said he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit the US, without giving a timeline for his trip. Trump also said that he was talking to China about TikTok, as the US seeks to broker a sale of the popular app owned by Chinese firm ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動). Trump last week said that he had
RSS