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16:38 19Mar09 RTRS-Taiwan dollar ends at over 1-mth high, c.bank curbs * Taiwan dollar firms past T$34 to over one-month high * Boosted by exporters, Fed's decision to buy long-term bonds * Central bank checks on some trades (Adds closing prices) TAIPEI, March 19 (Reuters) - The Taiwan dollar breached the psychological barrier of T$34 to close at a more than one-month high on Thursday, boosted by exporters' deals and the Federal Reserve's plans to buy bonds to help the U.S. economy. The Taiwan dollar rose by more than 1 percent to hit an intraday high of T$33.789, but the local currency later shed some gains to end at T$33.924, the strongest close since Feb. 6, after the central bank's moves to curb the rise. The local currency closed at T$34.156 on Wednesday. Volume on the main Taipei Forex Inc exchange was hefty at $1.408 billion, higher than the previous session's $1.1 billion. One out of five dealers contacted by Reuters said the central bank continued to make calls to check on some trades on U.S. dollar sales. The other four said they had not heard. The central bank, which manages the Taiwan dollar in a controlled float, also tried to taper any larger gains by actively buying U.S. dollars. "The central bank bought U.S. dollars at almost every tick from T$33.7," said a dealer in Taipei. "They also made some calls today to some banks to ask about the flows." Several dealers said on Tuesday and Wednesday the central bank phoned some banks to ask about their U.S. dollar sales, which pushed the Taiwan dollar down sharply. [ID:nTP374830] The Taiwan dollar has gained 3.6 percent since hitting a 22-year low in early March due to a recent surge of foreign fund inflows and exporters selling the U.S. dollar earnings from some rush orders. However, the local currency is still 3.2 percent weaker since the beginning of this year due to worries of the general state of the global economy. On the smaller Cosmos exchange , the Taiwan dollar strengthened to T$33.930, compared to Wednesday's close of T$34.140. (Reporting by Lee Chyen Yee and Jeanny Kao; Editing by Ken Wills) ((chyenyee.lee@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2508-0815; Reuters Messaging: chyenyee.lee.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: MARKETS TAIWAN CURRENCY/
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