The yen dipped to a one-and-a-half-year low against the New Taiwan dollar at one point yesterday, as buyers took advantage of the depreciation to pick up the Japanese unit, dealers said.
The yen fell below the NT$0.27 mark to NT$0.2691 against the NT dollar, according to data released by Bank of Taiwan (台銀), the nation’s largest lender.
The yen weakened as foreign-exchange traders shifted their funds to other regional currencies as concern over geopolitical tensions eased, the dealers said.
Selling in the Japanese unit intensified after it dropped below the psychological NT$0.27 mark, they said.
However, purchases by retail buyers lent some support to the yen, helping it recoup some of its earlier losses, they said.
Bank of Taiwan said that its online banking platform has been jammed by sharp demand for the yen since the beginning of this week.
The dealers said that demand for the yen largely came from people planning to visit Japan, one of the most favored destinations by Taiwanese.
Other local banks, such as Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀), Bank SinoPac (永豐銀) and E. Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀), which have provided relatively better terms for yen purchases, also saw rising demand for the yen.
Due to reduced tensions in the Korean Peninsula and an easing of concern over a possible victory by a populist presidential candidate in France, currency traders developed a greater appetite for risk by raising their holdings in non-yen denominated currencies, such as the NT dollar, the dealers said.
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