Taiwan Dollar Rises to 2-Month High Before This Week’s Election
Taiwan’s dollar rose to the strongest level in more than two months after global funds boosted holdings of the island’s shares on optimism President Ma Ying-jeou will get reelected on Jan. 14.
The currency advanced for a seventh day after overseas investors bought $402 million more local equities than they sold in the past three days, according to exchange data. Taiwan will vote for a new president over the weekend, with Tsai Ing-Wen, chairwoman of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, contesting against Ma, who is chairman of the Kuomintang party.
“It’s very unusual for foreign funds to come in at this time of the year as the Chinese New Year is just around the corner,” said Tarsicio Tong, a currency trader at Union Bank of Taiwan in Taipei. “Maybe there’s some optimism that the incumbent Kuomintang will win, and investors are looking forward to a stock rally on Monday.”
The island’s dollar strengthened 0.2 percent to NT$29.999 against its U.S. counterpart, according to Taipei Forex Inc. It reached NT$29.904 earlier, the strongest level since Nov. 1. Financial markets will be closed for the weeklong Chinese New Year holiday starting Jan. 23.
Government bonds gained. The yield on the 1 percent notes due January 2017 dropped two basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 0.965 percent, prices from Gretai Securities Market show.
The overnight money-market rate, which measures interbank funding availability, was little changed at 0.40 percent, according to a weighted average compiled by the Taiwan Interbank Money Center.
To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Wong in Taipei at awong268@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry at shendry@bloomberg.net
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