THE PESO climbed on Tuesday as the dollar weakened on doubts regarding US President-elect Donald J. Trump’s planned tariffs and following faster-than-expected Philippine headline inflation last month.
The local unit closed at P58.185 per dollar on Tuesday, strengthening by 8.5 centavos from its P58.27 finish on Monday, Bankers Association of the Philippines data showed.
The peso opened Tuesday’s session stronger at P58.15 against the dollar. Its worst showing was its closing level of P58.185, while its intraday best was at P58.02 versus the greenback.
Dollars exchanged increased to $1.87 billion on Tuesday from $1.74 billion on Monday.
“The dollar-peso closed lower as it tracked the dollar correction overnight and due to higher-than-expected local CPI (consumer price index),” a trader said by phone.
The dollar was generally weaker on Tuesday due to debate regarding Mr. Trump’s promised tariffs, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.
The US dollar eased towards a one-week low versus major peers on Tuesday as traders considered whether Mr. Trump’s proposed tariffs would be less aggressive than promised, Reuters reported.
On Monday, the greenback slid against the euro and sterling following a report in the Washington Post that Mr. Trump’s aides were exploring plans that would apply tariffs only on sectors seen as critical to US national security.
The US dollar index eased 0.25% to 108.03 as of 0730 GMT, after dropping to as low as 107.74 overnight, its weakest since Dec. 30.
Meanwhile, Philippine CPI rose by an annual 2.9% in December from 2.5% in November, but was slower than 3.9% a year prior.
This was within the central bank’s 2.3%-3.1% forecast for the month but was slightly faster than the 2.7% median estimate in a BusinessWorld poll of 13 analysts.
For Wednesday, the trader sees the peso moving between P58 and P58.40 per dollar, while Mr. Ricafort expects it to range from P58.10 to P58.30. — A.M.C. Sy with Reuters
