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Early Taiwan dlr steady with exporters' support

TAIPEI: The Taiwan dollar TWD was barely moved in early trade on Tuesday as US dollar selling by exporters and foreign equity funds counterbalanced downward pressure from an overnight slide in the Japanese yen.

The Taiwan dollar opened at T$30.82 to the US dollar against Monday's T$30.812 close, but swiftly gained ground. 15 minutes after trade began, the local unit had advanced to T$30.81.

Turnover through dealers was slim at US$7 million.

The Taiwan dollar opened lower mostly due to an overnight fall in the yen, dealers said. The yen was around 105.6 to the US dollar in early Tokyo on Tuesday compared with about 104.9 in late Asian trade on Monday.

Dealers also noted firm support from steady US dollar selling by exporters settling month-end accounts and stockpiling cash for the February 5 Chinese Lunar New Year. "The Taiwan dollar should have good support because foreign funds have continued their inflows and exporters have fairly large cash demand at the end of the month and before the Lunar New Year," said one dealer at a local bank.

Foreign funds were net buyers of T$3.219 billion in Taiwan stocks on Monday, accumulating T$43.502 billion (US$1.4 billion) in local equities over a 12-day spree of net buying.

Dealers said the Taiwan dollar had little chance of rising past T$30.8 before the Lunar New Year as the central bank apparently wanted to leave room for exporters to sell US dollars.

On the smaller Cosmos exchange, the Taiwan dollar opened at T$30.811 against Monday's T$30.809 finish.

For Tuesday, dealers said they expected the local unit to range between T$30.8 and T$30.82.-Reuters