Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves last month shrank US$1.15 billion to US$547.81 billion, the second-lowest level this year as foreign capital continued to flow outward in search of better yields, the central bank said yesterday.
The latest balance put an end to two consecutive months of gains, and came after foreign portfolio managers raised stakes in local shares while wiring about US$8 billion to US$9 billion of cash dividends and investment gains abroad, Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Eugene Tsai (蔡炯民) told an online news conference in Taipei.
The volume of capital outflow is the highest in four months, consistent with the US dollar index’s 1.16 percent uptick during the same period, Tsai said, adding that the euro and yuan weakened against the greenback.
The TAIEX recovered 1.18 percent, or 174.34 points, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed after the government on July 12 said that it would activate the National Stabilization Fund to shore up the local bourse.
Altogether, foreign institutional players sold more than NT$1.05 trillion of local shares from March to last month in response to global monetary tightening and other unfavorable developments, central bank data showed.
The US Federal Reserve last month raised its policy rate by 0.75 percentage points for the third time this year in an effort to fight inflation.
Taiwan’s central bank had to intervene in the foreign exchange market to help stabilize the local currency, Tsai said.
It repeated the practice this week when it spotted larger fluctuations and transactions in the local currency market after China took action to protest the visit of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he said.
Taiwan remains the world’s fourth-largest foreign exchange reserve holder after China, Japan and Switzerland, the central bank said.
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.044 against the US dollar, regaining some strength after hitting NT$30.01 in morning trading.
DOLLAR CHALLENGE: BRICS countries’ growing share of global GDP threatens the US dollar’s dominance, which some member states seek to displace for world trade US president-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100 percent tariffs against a bloc of nine nations if they act to undermine the US dollar. His threat was directed at countries in the so-called BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have applied to become members and several other countries have expressed interest in joining. While the US dollar is by far the most-used currency in global business and has survived past challenges to its preeminence, members of the alliance and other developing nations say they are fed
LIMITED MEASURES: The proposed restrictions on Chinese chip exports are weaker than previously considered, following lobbying by major US firms, sources said US President Joe Biden’s administration is weighing additional curbs on sales of semiconductor equipment and artificial intelligence (AI) memory chips to China that would escalate the US crackdown on Beijing’s tech ambitions, but stop short of some stricter measures previously considered, said sources familiar with the matter. The restrictions could be unveiled as soon as next week, said the sources, who emphasized that the timing and contours of the rules have changed several times, and that nothing is final until they are published. The measures follow months of deliberations by US officials, negotiations with allies in Japan and the Netherlands, and
TECH COMPETITION: The US restricted sales of two dozen types of manufacturing equipment and three software tools, and blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities US President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled new restrictions on China’s access to vital components for chips and artificial intelligence (AI), escalating a campaign to contain Beijing’s technological ambitions. The US Department of Commerce slapped additional curbs on the sale of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and chipmaking gear, including that produced by US firms at foreign facilities. It also blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities that it accused of acting on Beijing’s behalf, although it did not name them in an initial statement. Full details on the new sanctions and Entity List additions were to be published later yesterday, a US official said. The US “will
Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has retired from the company and stepped down from its board of directors just as the company is in the middle of trying to execute a turnaround plan. Intel chief financial officer David Zinsner and Intel Products CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus are serving as interim co-CEOs while the board searches for Gelsinger’s replacement, the company said in a statement. Frank Yeary, independent chair of the board of Intel, is to serve as interim executive chair, the company said. Gelsinger’s departure is hitting at a tumultuous time for the US chipmaker. Once the industry leader in
RSS