Wednesday, January 14, 2009

twd 0114

16:53 14Jan2009 RTRS-Taiwan dlr ends flat, off one-month closing low

(Adds closing values, details)
TAIPEI, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The Taiwan dollar bounced back slightly on Wednesday from a one-month closing low hit in the previous session on exporters' deals, but central bank intervention and foreign fund outflows capped its gains.
The Taiwan dollar rose to a high of T$33.190 to the U.S. dollar, but later pulled back on some of those gains to close at T$33.258, inching up from Tuesday's close of T$33.265.
Volume on the main Taipei Forex Inc exchange was thin at $686 million, lower than Tuesday's $806 million.
"We saw lots of exporters today, but the Taiwan dollar didn't climb too much because there were some foreign funds putting their money into the U.S. dollar," said a dealer in Taipei.
Foreign investors sold a total of T$3.34 billion ($101 million) in Taiwan stocks on Wednesday, which brought their net sales to T$16.81 billion so far this month. Taiwan stocks <.TWII> closed 0.24 percent lower.
Dealers said expectations that the European Central Bank would cut interest rates this week would pressure the Taiwan dollar, as such a move would strengthen the U.S. currency.
"Any interest rate cut will mean investors may push even more money into U.S. dollar holdings globally, which will drive down the Taiwan dollar," said another dealer.
However, Taiwan dealers are still watching whether the rise of the U.S. dollar will last as U.S. interest rates will be still much lower than European rates, making U.S. dollar-denominated assets less attractive.
Exporters saw opportunities to sell off their U.S. dollars as the Taiwan dollar had been weakening for five straight sessions, meaning they could convert their foreign currency earnings to more of the local currency.
On the smaller Cosmos exchange , the Taiwan dollar closed at T$33.245, weaker than the previous close of T$33.238.
(Reporting by Kelvin Soh and Yvette Chen, Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

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