The New Taiwan dollar on Friday fell against the US dollar, shedding NT$0.005 to close at NT$30.745.
However, that was a 0.3 percent gain from a close of NT$30.825 on Jan. 25.
The greenback opened at NT$30.750, moving between NT$30.725 and NT$30.775 before the close. Turnover totaled US$565 million during the trading session.
Elsewhere on Friday, the US dollar slipped after the US nonfarm payrolls report for last month showed very little wage inflation, affirming the US Federal Reserve’s patient stance on further interest rate increases.
The greenback did shoot higher after the release of strong job gains, but quickly got back to its levels before the data, with analysts citing the average hourly earnings figure, which rose just 0.1 percent, compared with expectations for a 0.3 percent increase.
Beyond the headline jobs gains, the US dollar has become more sensitive to wage inflation over the past year.
The report showed that the US economy last month created 304,000 new jobs, the highest in 11 months, superseding forecasts for 165,000 jobs.
However, the unemployment rate rose to a seven-month peak of 4 percent.
“We had a knee-jerk rise in the [US] dollar based on the strong gain in payrolls, as well as the overall solid report,” Credit Agricole Group foreign exchange strategist Eric Viloria said. “But the miss in wages probably reinforces this patient approach by the Fed and that has restrained the [US] dollar.”
Contracts tied to the Fed’s policy rate had priced out any chance of a rate hike this year, after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday said that the case for rate increases had weakened, and were pricing in an about one-in-three chance of a rate cut by the end of the year.
However, after the jobs data, traders reduced rate-cut bets, although they continue to bet against a rate hike.
In mid-morning trading, the US dollar index was down 0.1 percent at 95.508.
Meanwhile, the euro rose 0.2 percent against the greenback to US$1.1471, while the US dollar gained 0.2 percent against the yen to ￥109.02.
Broader risk sentiment remained somewhat robust after a top US negotiator on Thursday reported “substantial progress” in two days of high-level talks on trade with China.
The US dollar is widely expected to weaken this year as the Fed turns more cautious about rate increases.
“The outlook for US assets remains relatively uncompelling and investors should be shopping for value elsewhere,” Morgan Stanley global head of currency strategy Hans Redeker said in London. “A weak US equity market outlook should keep low-yielders such as the yen and the Swedish crown supported.”
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