Peso may weaken anew on US jobs data

THE PESO may weaken anew against the dollar this week after posting gains in the last trading sessions following the release of a positive jobs report that could bolster the case for another rate hike in the United States this year.

The local currency advanced toward the P46- per- dollar territory last week following the surprise move of the People’s Bank of China to reduce the reserve requirement ratio for banks. The peso settled at P46.945 versus the dollar on Friday on the back of recovering oil prices alongside a weaker-than-expected report on the US services-sector activity in February, versus its P47.515-a-dollar finish last Feb. 29.

For this week, market players remain watchful of movements in global oil prices and further interventions China could implement to boost its slowing economy.

But strong employment data from the US may direct sentiment toward the dollar, Guian Angelo S. Dumalagan, market economist at Land Bank of the Philippines ( Landbank), said in an e- mailed forecast.

“After two straight weeks of dollar depreciation, the dollar might recover this week, fueled primarily by last Friday’s upbeat US nonfarm payrolls report.”

In separate phone interviews, two traders also cited the US non-farm payrolls report among the key factors possibly influencing this week’s trading.

Data released late Friday show US non-farm payrolls increased 242,000 in February, beating analyst forecasts. Average hourly wages, however, dropped 0.1% during the month. The consensus was 195,000 additional non- farm jobs