Taiwan dollar gains as funds boost stock purchases; bonds drop
Taiwan’s dollar completed a weekly loss as data showed the gross domestic product shrank more than estimated and the government cut its economic estimates.
The currency and local stocks erased gains today as the statistics bureau reported that GDP contracted 0.18 percent in the three months through June from a year earlier, compared with a July 31 estimate for a 0.16 percent drop. The island’s economy will expand 1.66 percent this year, the bureau forecast today, compared with an earlier projection of 2.08 percent.
“The authorities will want to help the exporters by keeping the Taiwan dollar on a depreciation bias,” said James Wang, a fixed-income trader at Yuanta Securities Co. in Taipei.
Taiwan’s dollar declined 0.1 percent this week to NT$30.025 against its US counterpart, the lowest level since August 13, according to Taipei Forex Inc. One-month implied volatility, a measure of exchange-rate swings used to price options, dropped seven basis points, or 0.07 percentage point, to 3.40 percent from a week ago.
Exports may shrink 1.72 percent this year, compared with an earlier forecast for a 0.07 percent gain, the statistics bureau said. Orders for shipments probably fell 2.98 percent in July from a year earlier, versus a 2.62 percent drop in June, according to a Bloomberg survey before data due August 20.
Global funds bought $789 million more Taiwanese shares than they sold this week through yesterday, compared with $1.7 billion last week.
The yield on Taiwan’s 1.25 percent bonds due March 2022 was little changed at 1.182 percent versus 1.177 percent on August 10, according to Gretai Securities Market. The overnight money- market rate was steady at 0.386 percent, according to a weighted average compiled by the Taiwan Interbank Money Centre.
Category: Taiwan
