Taiwan dlr nearly flat as exporters offset outflow

* Taiwan dollar little changed, trading thin

* Foreign investors buy U.S. dollars, but exporters sell

* T$ seen trading mainly between T$32.2 and T$32.5 next week (Updates to close)

TAIPEI, Oct 23 - The Taiwan dollar ended almost flat on Friday as exporters' purchases of U.S. dollars were offset by foreign fund outflows.

"Exporters were tempted to sell their U.S. currency at around T$32.420 and T$32.450, offering support to the local currency," said a dealer in Taipei, who expected the Taiwan dollar to trade mainly between T$32.200 and T$32.500 next week.

But fund outflows pressured the local currency. Foreign institutions have been net sellers of Taiwan stocks for the past three sessions. On Friday, foreigners sold a net T$3.4 billion ($105 million) in Taiwan stocks.

Dealers said they expect the local currency to rise further as the island's export orders pick up.

Taiwan's export orders in September fell 3 percent from a year earlier, faring better than forecast and was the best performance in a year on strong Chinese demand.

Dealers also said the Taiwan dollar had more room for rises in the longer term and positive U.S. corporate earnings were encouraging investors to take on riskier assets, such as Asian currencies.

In the offshore non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) market, six-month NDFs widened on Friday, indicating that the Taiwan dollar would likely firm by a larger degree in half a year.

0800 GMT PREVIOUS SESSION T$ (Taipei Forex Inc) 32.398 32.403 Volume in $ mln (Taipei Forex Inc) 752 1,036 T$ (Cosmos) 32.395 32.402 Six-month NDFs -0.680/-0.650 -0.590/-0.540 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

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