The New Taiwan dollar on Friday gained against the US dollar, rising NT$0.006 to close at NT$30.451.
Turnover totaled US$1.098 billion during the trading session.
The greenback opened at NT$30.430, and moved between NT$30.390 and NT$30.521 before the close.
That compared with a close of NT$30.417 on July 14, with turnover of US$685 million.
The US dollar was on track to record a loss of almost 1 percent for the week, while the euro racked up gains of about 1.8 percent, as investor sentiment shifted in favor of the shared currency on signs that the European Central Bank (ECB) is preparing to pare its support for the economy.
The greenback saw renewed afternoon selling amid the resignation of White House press secretary Sean Spicer after the appointment of financier Anthony Scaramucci as communications director. The move weighs on investors already considering the effect of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation on the president’s ability to advance his economic agenda.
The euro advanced as traders tried to get ahead of the ECB, which has signaled that in the autumn it will discuss tapering its asset-purchase programs.
The Bloomberg euro index gained about 1.6 percent for the week after ECB President Mario Draghi on Thursday said discussions would begin on adjusting quantitative easing programs at meetings during the fall, although he steered clear of setting a firm date.
His actions came after weeks of speculation that such a shift was in the works and the euro rallied on the confirmation by Draghi that the ECB remains far from achieving its mandate to get inflation close to, but below, 2 percent, although he indicated that an improved economic outlook will feed through to wages and then prices.
Those expectations have also been expressed by the US Federal Reserve, which is about to embark on its own tapering program, although it too finds its inflation objective elusive.
Amid policy setbacks that have delayed US President Donald Trump’s plans for fiscal stimulus, traders have pared bets that the Fed will raise rates again this year, despite recent assertions from officials. The Fed meets next week to decide on policy and investors will parse its policy statement for any shift in tone or sentiment.
The euro on Friday traded at about US$1.1673 after reaching a fresh 23-month high of US$1.1683 in the afternoon session, the strongest since an August 2015 peak of US$1.1714, an objective for technical traders.
Against the yen, the US dollar was on Friday trading at about ¥111.04, near the session low of ¥111.01, as a drop in US Treasury yields undercut the greenback.
The pair extended declines below an area of technical support just less than ¥112.00 that had underpinned the dollar
While the yen is expected to remain broadly defensive as the Bank of Japan anchors policy rates near zero, it has gained support from an unwind of certain cross-trades, such as against the Australian dollar and the British pound.
The Australian dollar on Friday fell more than 1.4 percent from Thursday’s peak of US$0.7989 and remained well below that level after a Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor pushed back on hawkish interpretations of the central bank’s meeting minutes, saying that a weaker currency would help the Australian economy.
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