SINGAPORE -- The Taiwan dollar bounded ahead of the Asian pack on Monday to hit its highest level in 10-½ years, but investors traded other currencies cautiously and business was subdued after the Easter holiday.

Several Asian currencies firmed as a number of markets, including Indonesia and the Philippines, reopened after a long weekend, but most kept to tight ranges as investors waited for the opening of US markets later in the session.

"I think investors ended relatively long on the Asian currencies and on a cautious stance before the long break," said a trader based in Philippines.

The US dollar recovered from a 13-year low against the yen and rose broadly on Monday, boosted by the series of Federal Reserve measures to help credit markets, including a hefty 75 basis points cut in the fed funds rate to 2.25 percent last week.

Simultaneously, there seemed to be an improvement in risk appetite, with the Indonesian rupiah and even the beleaguered South Korean won recovering with a rise in Asian stock markets.

The Taiwan dollar rose by 1.0 percent to 30.2470 per dollar, its highest since October 1997, given impetus by a landslide victory for the Nationalist Party in this weekend's presidential election.

Investors are hopeful that the victory of Ma Ying-jeou will result in a better business environment as ties with neighbour China are expected to improve.

The Philippine peso inched up by 0.2 percent to 41.60 as remittances from overseas workers accumulated over the holiday period pushed the currency higher against the dollar, dealers said.

However, the Malaysian ringgit bucked the Asian trend and fell by 0.8 percent to a 13-day low of 3.2030 per dollar, after rising by around 4 percent over the past two months.