The Taiwan dollar fell on Friday to a one-week closing low as the central bank bought US dollars after foreign fund inflows had pushed the Taiwan currency up amid a global appetite for high-risk currencies, dealers said.
Friday's close of T$31.828 to the US dollar was the weakest close since Jan. 8. The central bank, which seeks to keep the Taiwan dollar in a managed float, periodically intervenes to stop rapid price fluctuations and has recently moved to discourage speculation in the forex market.
Earlier in the day, foreign funds bought Taiwan dollars in the currency and stock markets, dealers said. Foreign funds bought a net T$10.6 billion ($330 million) in local shares on Friday, nearly the same amount as a day earlier.
Risky assets such as the Taiwan dollar were in favour globally on Friday as upbeat earnings from technology-bellwether Intel Corp fuelled demand for currencies leveraged to global growth.