Peso rises amid volatile trading

THE PESO strengthened further against the dollar on Wednesday as trading remained volatile amid geopolitical and economic concerns here and abroad.
The local unit ended yesterday’s session at P52.715 versus the greenback, 5.5 centavos stronger than the P52.77 finish last Tuesday.
The peso traded stronger the whole day, opening the session at P52.69 per greenback. It reached an intraday peak of P52.635, while its worst showing stood at P52.73 against the US currency.
Trading volume thinned to $765.15 million from $906.85 million the previous day.
A foreign exchange trader said the peso continued to trade within the wide range of P52.65-P52.90 given the slew of economic and geopolitical concerns abroad.
“The movements we saw were big — it’s headline-driven. We saw markets react to the developments in US-China trade relations, the Brexit deal as well as the protests in France,” the trader said in a phone interview.
“The local currency strengthened further amid easing US-China trade concerns after the two countries were considering next stage of trade talks,” another trader said in an e-mail.
Back home, the first trader said market participants are still awaiting the policy meeting of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday.
The BSP is widely expected to keep its policy rates steady amid signs of slowing inflation evidenced by the November print.
“Some are saying they might not hike this month and will just wait what’s gonna happen next quarter. Some are also saying they might increase but with a dovish tone. It’s hard to decipher,” the first trader said. “The market is so volatile that investors adjust their positions once they see a headline.”
For today, the first trader expects the peso to trade between P52.60 and P52.95, while the other gave a P52.60-P52.80 range. — K.A.N. Vidal