Asian currencies turbocharged by dollar weakness are attaining rarely seen superlatives and triggering central bank intervention to curb excessive gains.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority on Friday sold a record amount of local dollars to prevent its advance and protect the currency’s 42-year-old peg to the greenback. Taiwan’s central bank also intervened as its currency soared the most since 1988. The offshore yuan rallied to its strongest since November.
The volatility shows how an exodus from the world’s reserve currency can ripple through financial markets, as President Donald Trump’s shifting tariff policies fuel concern over a U.S. recession. Last week, speculative traders became more bearish on the dollar than at any time since September, in a sign of growing reluctance among investors to hold U.S. assets.
