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17:06 18Mar09 RTRS-Taiwan dollar closes at near five-week high * Taiwan dollar hits 5-week closing high on funds, exporters * Central bank tries to taper gains by calling dealers * Taiwan dollar up 3 pct since hitting 22-year low in March (Updates closing values, adds details) TAIPEI, March 18 (Reuters) - The Taiwan dollar strengthened to a near five-week closing high on Wednesday on exporters' deals and foreign fund inflows, but the central bank tried to cap gains by calling dealers to inquire about their trades. The Taiwan dollar rose to a high of T$34.133 in early trade but closed at T$34.156, its strongest close since Feb. 13. It closed at T$34.278 the previous session. "The central bank was doing very strange things today," said a dealer in Taipei. "They tried to stop a dealer from selling a small amount of U.S. dollars on behalf of a tech company in its bid to keep the Taiwan dollar down." Taiwan's central bank maintains the local currency in a managed float and frequently buys and sells U.S. dollars in the foreign exchange market to prevent huge fluctuations. The authorities also use verbal intervention by calling up dealers on huge trades. [ID:nTP374830] Volume on the main Taipei Forex Inc exchange was moderate at $1.1 billion, lower than the $1.2 billion recorded on Tuesday. The Taiwan dollar has gained nearly 3 percent since hitting a 22-year low earlier in March as foreign institutions and exporters actively sell U.S. dollars. "Everyone knew the central bank was trading very actively in the morning, so most investors and companies were sidelined and only began to be more active in afternoon trade," said another dealer. On the smaller Cosmos exchange , the Taiwan dollar closed at T$34.140, compared to Tuesday's close of T$34.180. (Reporting by Lee Chyen Yee and Jeanny Kao; Editing by Nick Macfie) ((kelvin.soh@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2508 0815; Reuters Messaging: kelvin.soh.reuters.com@reuters.com)) Keywords: MARKETS TAIWAN CURRENCY/
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