(Bloomberg) -- The Taiwan dollar strengthened past 30 versus the greenback for the first time in 18 months.
The currency rose as much as 0.5% to 29.996 on Tuesday, trading at 30.009 as of 9:21 a.m. in Taipei. The Taiwan dollar has climbed 3.5% in the second half as the best the world’s major currencies.
Some traders have speculated that Taiwan’s central bank has been stepping into the market to slow the currency’s advance. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-long said this month that the monetary authority would “smooth” the market when large inflows cause excessive volatility. Policy makers may want to curb more gains to protect exporters.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Philip Glamann in Shanghai at pglamann@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sofia Horta e Costa at shortaecosta@bloomberg.net
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