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16:58 26Mar09 RTRS-Taiwan dollar up in face of U.S. dollar weakness * Taiwan dollar gains as U.S. dollar broadly weaker * Activity slow ahead of central bank policy review * After close, source says central bank rates left unchanged (Updates to close) TAIPEI, March 26 (Reuters) - The Taiwan dollar rose on Thursday from a one-week low a day earlier, as comments by the U.S. Treasury Secretary hobbled the dollar. The Taiwan dollar reached T$33.820 to the U.S. dollar, up slightly from the previous day's close of T$33.888, which was its weakest final price since March 19. The local market closed before the Taiwan central bank announced the outcome of a policy review. A source told Reuters the central bank had decided to leave its interest rate unchanged at a record low of 1.25 percent, contrary to most expectations for a cut. [nTPU001226] The U.S. dollar fell against major currencies after U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he was open to the idea of expanding the use of the International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights, another knock for the status of the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency. "The dollar is softer across the board for Asian currencies, and I wouldn't say it's anything specific to Taiwan," said Mitul Kotecha, Calyon's global head of forex strategy. The Taiwan dollar also tracked a gain in Taiwan stocks <.TWII>, which ended up 0.75 percent. [ID:nTP168249] On Thursday, foreign institutions bought T$3.261 billion ($100 million) in Taiwan stocks. They have been net sellers so far in March, buying T$12.268 billion worth of Taiwan shares. Volume on the main Taipei Forex Inc exchange was a light $893 million, compared with $918 million on Wednesday. In the non-deliverable forwards market, six-month NDFs were quoted at -0.280/-0.230, compared with -0.220/-0.170 in the previous session, indicating that the market was expecting the Taiwan dollar to firm by more than expected earlier. On the smaller Cosmos exchange , the Taiwan dollar closed at T$33.810, firmer than the previous final price of T$33.870. (Reporting by Ralph Jennings and Lin Miao-jung; Editing by Neil Fullick) ((ralph.jennings@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2500 4882; Reuters Messaging: ralph.jennings.reuters.com@reuters.net)) ((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to newsfeedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)) Keywords: MARKETS TAIWAN CURRENCY/
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