The New Taiwan dollar closed at 32.085 per US dollar on Tuesday, breaching the 32 level, while foreign-exchange turnover topped US$7.1 billion, a record, and foreign investors sold Taiwan stocks for a fifth straight session.
According to the United Daily News, the New Taiwan dollar closed at 32.085 against the US dollar in Taipei on October 13, down 0.19 from the previous session and through the key 32 mark, its weakest level in nearly two months. It fell as far as 32.237 intraday, a drop of 0.342, before the central bank stepped in late in the session to slow the decline and narrow the loss.
광고 문의 · 300×250Exporters sold dollars as the currency weakened, but that was not enough to offset foreign investors' demand for US dollars. Central bank data show that, excluding an extreme move of more than 2% in a single day at the end of June last year, the last one-day fall of more than 1% was 1.19% on August 12, 2015, more than 11 years ago, which underlines how unusual the latest swing is.
Record Turnover and Continued Foreign Selling
Combined turnover on the Taipei and EuroTrade foreign-exchange markets reached US$7.1145 billion, the largest ever; the previous record was US$5.561 billion on March 24, 2008. The "71 hundred million" in the original headline refers to US dollars, not Taiwan dollars. The market estimates that foreign investors repatriated more than US$2 billion in a single day, the paper reported.
The equity market also came under pressure. The benchmark index fell 960.65 points to 48,341.31, and foreign investors were net sellers of NT$165.342 billion, the third-largest net sale on record. It was their fifth straight session of net selling, taking the cumulative total above NT$310 billion. Related coverage cited by the paper said the index dropped as much as 1,235 points intraday before state-backed funds bought a net NT$41.2 billion to keep it above 48,000.
Bank traders attributed the currency's slide to heavy remittances out by foreign investors, compounded by outflows tied to TSMC's (2330) dividend payment last week, which created a double wave of dollar demand. The wider backdrop includes higher oil prices amid Middle East tensions, elevated US Treasury yields that revived inflation worries, and doubts over the AI investment boom and tech valuations that weighed on US tech shares and Asian markets and lifted demand for safe havens.
What It Means for Importers, Exporters and Remitters
A weaker currency generally lifts exporters' revenue once converted into local terms, but raises costs for firms that import raw materials and energy. Overseas Chinese or other residents abroad who send money to Taiwan or hold Taiwan-dollar assets also see the value of their funds shift with the exchange rate. The reporting did not describe specific effects on individual remitters or industries, so those cannot be confirmed here; as a general point, wider swings tend to make people more careful about when they transfer money.
Looking ahead, bank traders said pressure from foreign outflows is unlikely to ease soon and the currency could test 32.2 again this week. If stocks keep correcting and foreign investors keep selling and repatriating funds, the Taiwan dollar is likely to stay soft in the short term. Items to watch include US inflation data, TSMC's investor conference and foreign investor flows. If the stock market stabilizes, that would help ease the pressure on the currency.
