SYDNEY – The dollar slipped anew on Monday as a meteoric surge in its Taiwanese counterpart stoked speculation some Asian countries were prepared to engineer revaluations of their currencies to win US trade concessions.
The Taiwan dollar climbed more than 3 percent to 29.654 per US dollar, adding to a record 4.5 percent jump on Friday and taking it to near three-year highs.
While Taiwan’s central bank has denied the White House was pressing for a rise in some Asian currencies as part of a trade deal, markets were sensing a shift anyway.
“The Taiwan dollar is appreciating at a faster pace than I’ve ever seen,” said one senior Taiwanese financial industry executive, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
“Hot money is coming into Taiwan, and the central bank is allowing it,” they added. “Many are saying that’s due to pressure from theUS I would say that must be the case.”
China’s yuan duly hit its highest in almost six months at 7.1879 per dollar as investors wagered Beijing might let its currency strengthen as part of Sino-US trade talks, though negotiations still seemed distant.
While the Chinese Commerce Ministry has indicated Beijing was evaluating an offer from Washington to hold talks over Trump’s 145 percent tariffs, the two sides still seem far apart.
