Currencies

Asian equities rose on Wednesday following a Wall Street rally as traders cheered forecast-beating US consumer confidence data and a drop in bond yields, with eyes now on a key sale of Japanese debt.New York investors returned to their desks after a long weekend break in a good mood after Donald Trump delayed until July the 50 per cent tariffs he announced out of the blue on Friday, sparking a market rout.The US president’s announcement Sunday soothed worries about a fresh flare-up in his trade war that has rattled global...

An Indian man robbed nearly 100,000 baht from a currency exchange shop in the Bangrak district of Bangkok on Monday and performed a wai before fleeing the scene. He was ultimately arrested yesterday, May 27. Officers from Bangrak Police Station received complaints from two currency exchange shops in the area: X-ONE Currency Exchange Centre on Surawong Road and WISE Exchange on Silom Road. A foreign man, whose nationality was initially unknown, approached staff at both locations, threatened them with a gun, and demanded money. The suspect failed to steal money...

BENGALURU: Asian currencies reversed course to trade lower on Tuesday as a rally in global bonds whipsawed markets that remained concerned about US fiscal health and President Donald Trump’s erratic trade policies. The Malaysian ringgit fell 0.3% against a stronger dollar after reaching a three-week high earlier in the session. The Singaporean dollar, Indonesian rupiah, and the Indian rupee weakened between 0.2% and 0.4%. US Treasury yields slumped after 30-year bonds mimicked a steep price rally in longer-term Japanese debt and as investors mulled the latest developments in US tariff...

Japan’s Finance Minister Shunichi Kato said on Wednesday that he will closely monitor bond market situations as he is concerned about a recent spike yields in Japan.This comment came after two sources told Reuters on Tuesday that Japanese officials will consider trimming issuance of super-long bonds in the wake of recent sharp rises in yields for the notes. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) will make a decision after discussions with market participants around mid- to late-June, the sources said.Market reaction  At the time of writing, the USD/JPY pair is trading 0.28% lower on the...

Imagine you are planning the funeral music for a loved one who has died. You can't remember their favourite song, so you try to login to their Spotify account.Then you realise the account login is inaccessible, and with it has gone their personal history of Spotify playlists, annual "wrapped" analytics, and liked songs curated to reflect their taste, memories, and identity. We tend to think about inheritance in physical terms: money, property, personal belongings. But the vast volume of digital stuff we accumulate in life and leave behind in death...

The value of the Taiwan dollar (TWD) against the US dollar jumped by approximately 10 percent in a few days in May. This sparked public speculation and concern over any undisclosed concessions made by President Lai Ching-te’s government to secure a trade deal with President Donald Trump. The Central Bank of the Republic of China (CBC, commonly known as Taiwan’s central bank) intervened to curb the spike in the TWD.As JPMorgan stated, “Such pronounced volatility is extremely rare for the TWD, given that the currency is highly managed” by the...

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) wants Indian banks to give loans to foreigners in rupees .The RBI has approached the Centre asking for permission to do so.The central bank’s move is the latest step towards the internationalisation of the rupee.But what happened? Why is the RBI making this move?Let’s take a closer lookWhat happened?The RBI wants to allow domestic banks to make loans to overseas borrowers in Indian currency.This would be a historic first for the nation.The central bank has already asked the government to allow domestic banks to...

The US Dollar is making a turnaround this Tuesday, snapping its losing streak. Some support for the Greenback with the Fed confirming steady interest rates. The US Dollar Index heads above 99.00 in search of the 100.00 figure. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the performance of the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, is tying up some minor gains, trading around 99.40 at the time of writing this Tuesday. The stronger Greenback has emerged right at the end of Asian trading hours, after the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF)...

Yesterday ECB President Christine Lagarde gave a speech in Berlin. It was about how the euro could possibly replace the dollar as the dominant global currency in the future. The speech is worth reading, Commerzbank's Head of FX and Commodity Research Ulrich Leuchtmann notes. Euro may struggle to become the next reserve currency"Lagarde is right, in my opinion, when she says: 'A currency's exposure to trade is especially important, as it provides the initial pathway to wider international use.' Reserves are held so that, in the worst case scenario of...

Asia-Pacific stock markets presented a varied landscape at Tuesday’s close, with investors continuing to navigate the evolving global trade climate, particularly after US President Donald Trump deferred a significant tariff hike on European Union imports. While some regional bourses found positive momentum, others, including Indian benchmarks like the Sensex, experienced a more turbulent session.The overarching theme for the day was a careful assessment of international trade dynamics. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 ended the day 0.51% higher at 37,724.11, and the broader Topix index rose 0.64% to 2,769.49, suggesting some optimism in Tokyo....