Taiwan dollar down

The Taiwan dollar weakened on Friday as the central bank bought US dollars, prompting many dealers to follow suit, though trade was thin due to the Easter break in some Asian economies. The Taiwan dollar ended weaker at T$33.795 to the US dollar from the previous close of T$33.777.
It hit as low as T$33.940 just after trade opened as the central bank tried to steer the market towards a weakening bias. Trade was quiet on the main Taipei Forex Inc exchange with volumes at $645 million, half of Thursdays $1.278 billion.
"The central bank guided the Taiwan dollar lower today, with most players buying US dollars," said a dealer in Taipei. The central bank, which keeps the Taiwan dollar in a managed float, has been buying US dollars in the market actively over the past few months to ensure the local currency trends lower to help the islands exporters reeling from a global downturn.
Foreign institutions bought a net T$12.162 billion ($360 million) in Taiwan stocks, which rose 2.0 percent on Friday, with dealers saying that that translated into some fund inflows during the session. Six-month NDFs were quoted at -0.440/-0.390, compared with -0.450/-0.400 the previous session, indicating that the market expects the Taiwan dollar to strengthen by a smaller degree in half a year. On the smaller Cosmos exchange, the Taiwan dollar fell slightly to T$33.785 to the US dollar from the previous close of T$33.775.