Taiwan dollar, stocks ease in slow weekend trade

TAIPEI Jan 10 (Reuters) - The Taiwan dollar eased for a third straight session on Saturday, as better-than-expected U.S. jobs data boosted the U.S. currency in the global market, dealers said, while falling stocks also weighed.

Taiwan's financial markets opened on Saturday to offset an extra holiday over the New Year weekend, but dealers expected low volumes and a small trading range.

The Taiwan dollar TWD=TP stood at $33.168 to the U.S. dollar at 0200 GMT, weaker than Friday's close of T$33.155.

Volume on the main Taipei Forex Inc exchange was thin at $67 million after an hour of trade, compared with $163 million during the same period a day earlier.

Global gains in the U.S. dollar pressured the Taiwan currency, a dealer said.

The U.S. dollar rose on Friday, posting its best weekly gain in two months against the euro, after a government report showed non-farm job losses in December were slightly lower than expected. [ID:nN09282664]

Taiwan stocks also weighed on the currency, a dealer said. Local stocks .TWII were down 0.45 percent to 4,482.6 points at 0215 GMT on Saturday.

PC vendor Asustek (2357.TW) led technology shares lower after posting disappointing sales in December a day earlier. [ID:nTP70596]

Foreign funds sold more than T$6 billion ($180 million) in local stocks on Friday, with a net outflow of more than T$3 billion so far this month.

"I don't see much changes in the Taiwan dollar levels. Because stocks have opened a bit lower, the currency is just following that," said a dealer in Taipei.

The Taiwan dollar hit a 10-½ year high in March last year, but lost ground for much of the rest of the year as the global financial crisis tore into the island's economy. The currency fell 1.3 percent in 2008.

On the smaller Cosmos exchange COSMOS1, the Taiwan dollar weakened to T$33.160 from Friday's close of T$33.140. (Reporting by Ralph Jennings and Yvette Chen; Editing by Lincoln Feast)