Peso slips to new low

THE PESO weakened anew on Thursday, slipping to a fresh 12-year low, as the dollar went up amid renewed trade war concerns.

The peso ended the session at P53.515 against the greenback, four centavos weaker than the P53.475-per-dollar finish on Wednesday.

This was a fresh low for the peso in nearly 12 years or since it closed at P53.55 against the greenback last June 29, 2006.

The peso traded weaker the whole day, opening the session at P53.50 against its US counterpart. It slipped to an intraday low of P53.545, while its best showing for the day stood at P53.49.

Dollars traded stood at $621.49 million on Thursday, down from the $918.7 million that switched hands the previous day.

A trader said the peso traded quietly versus the greenback on Thursday due to the “strong dollar.”

“We saw a very large selling at P53.55 level so the market was forced to be locked in range,” the trader said in a phone interview.

“There seems to be a wall — everyone wants to sell at that level,” the trader added, noting that the market saw some big banks at those levels.

Reuters reported that the dollar held near one-year highs as conflicting signals about the trade spat between Washington and other economies prompted buying of the currency.

The dollar index inched higher by 0.3% to 95.51 against a basket of currencies.

Meanwhile, another trader said the peso closed at a near 12-year low ahead of the release of the first-quarter US Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) figure.

“A stronger [PCE] reading might bolster expectations of a fourth rate hike from the Fed this year,” the trader said in an e-mail.

For Friday, the first trader expects the peso to move between P53.40 and P53.60 against the dollar, while the other gave a weaker P53.45-P53.65 forecast range.

“The local currency might continue to weaken [today] amid expectations of a higher PCE inflation data for May,” the second trader noted. •