Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Taiwan dlr at 2-week high on stocks, risk appeal

* Taiwan dollar posts strongest close since Nov. 18

* High-yield currencies in vogue as Dubai debt woes fade

* Central bank buys U.S. dollar to curb gains - dealers (Updates to close)

TAIPEI, Dec 2 - The Taiwan dollar firmed on Wednesday to a two-week high, tracking local stocks and reflecting renewed global appetite for riskier currencies, but the island's central bank bought U.S. dollars to curb gains.

The closing level of T$32.170 to the U.S. dollar was the strongest since Nov. 18.

Overseas, the U.S. dollar was on the defensive against higher-yielding currencies as rising stocks and commodity markets encouraged a pick-up in risk-taking [ID:nT181057]. Investor risk appetite showed little sign of waning ahead of the year's end.

Further whetting appetite in riskier currencies such as the Taiwan dollar, the international impact of Dubai's shock debt announcement last week had lessened considerably amid expectations that the crisis would be largely contained to the emirate and a handful of large creditors.

"The currency is generally coming back since the blowout on Friday," said Patrick Bennett, currency strategist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong. "We favour it to be strong."

Further supporting the local currency, Taiwan stocks <.TWII> closed 0.37 percent higher.

Some investors stayed on the sidelines, moving cautiously toward the end of the year or awaiting U.S. payroll data due on Friday, dealers said.

Taiwan's central bank, which seeks to keep the currency in a managed float and has recently pushed it weaker to help local exporters, curbed gains on Wednesday by buying U.S. dollars, dealers said.

0800 GMT PREVIOUS SESSION T$ (Taipei Forex Inc) 32.170 32.199 Volume in $ mln (Taipei Forex Inc) 644 743 (Cosmos) 32.145 32.190 Six-month NDFs -0.700/-0.650 -0.670/-0.620

Note: Taipei Forex Inc is Taiwan's main forex exchange; Cosmos is a smaller exchange. Both exchanges end trading at 0800 GMT

Source: NDFs quotations from Prebon Asia

For more foreign exchange news, please click [nTOPFRX] (Reporting by Ralph Jennings; Editing by Chris Lewis) ((ralph.jennings@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2500 4882; Reuters Messaging: ralph.jennings.reuters.com@reuters.net)) (

Source: alibaba.com/

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