Quick overview
- The US dollar fell against the Taiwan dollar, closing at NT$31.419 after a day of minimal movement.
- Trading volume was moderate at $915 million, typical for a Friday session in the Taipei forex market.
- Taiwan’s stock market reached new highs, influenced by foreign investment as tensions eased following recent military drills by China.
- The dollar’s slight decline reflects a stable trading environment, with no significant catalysts impacting market sentiment.
The US dollar dropped against Taiwan’s currency Friday, losing NT$0.019 to close at NT$31.419. Trading volume hit $915 million for the session.
Dollar opened at NT$31.420. Pretty much ended there too. Went as low as NT$31.360, peaked at NT$31.447, then settled back near where it started. Traders basically spent the day going nowhere. Nobody wanted to make big bets on direction.
Volume stayed moderate, nothing unusual for a typical Friday session on the Taipei forex market.
The move comes as Taiwan’s stock market hit fresh highs Friday, with TSMC breaking records. When local equities rally strongly, the Taiwan dollar sometimes catches a bid as foreign money flows in.
Context matters here. China just wrapped up military drills around Taiwan earlier this week, which had briefly rattled markets. With those exercises concluded and tensions easing somewhat, risk appetite improved for Taiwan assets.
The dollar’s weakness wasn’t dramatic. Less than two cents of movement in either direction doesn’t tell you much about sentiment. More of a sideways grind than anything meaningful. Local currency markets tend to trade quietly unless there’s a major catalyst, and Friday didn’t provide one.
For reference, NT$31.419 per dollar sits roughly in the middle of where the Taiwan dollar’s been trading over recent months. Not particularly strong or weak by recent standards, just hovering around average levels.
Traders will be watching whether this modest dollar weakness extends into next week or if it was just end-of-week position squaring. With US markets closed for New Year celebrations earlier in the week, volumes across Asian forex markets have been lighter than usual.
Sophia Cruz
Financial Writer – Asian & European Desks
Sophia is an experienced writer, reporter and newsdesk member, mostly on the financial sectors. For the past 5 years Sophia has covered a wide variety of topics such as the financial markets, economics, technology, fin-tech and trading. Sophia has been a part of the FX Leaders team since 2017 and works on producing valuable content and information for traders of all levels of experience.
