Peso falls anew to P53:$1
The peso fell back to the P53:$1 level on Tuesday, losing some of the strength it gained the previous day, following an inflation-fueled stock market plunge.
The currency, which added 30 centavos on Monday to its highest in nearly two months, opened at P52.85 against the greenback and dropped to as low as P53.01 during the day.
It closed at P53 flat, down 15 centavos.
“The peso depreciated after standing resilient for seven straight days as the local unit took its cue from the drop in local equities on Tuesday,” Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) said in its daily market wrap.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index plunged by 91.46 points or 1.17 percent to end the day at 7,725.85 as higher-than-expected July inflation of 5.7 percent fueled concerns over the scale of a likely policy rate hike this Thursday.
“Expect the currency pair to trade within the 52.900 to 53.100 range on Wednesday,” BPI added.
The peso, described as Asia’s worst-performing currency this year, fell to the P53:$1 level in June on concerns over the country’s widening current account deficit and the prospect of higher US interest rates.
Economic managers have raised their peso-dollar exchange rate assumptions to P50-53:$1 for 2018-2022 from P49-52.
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