THE peso strengthened further against the dollar to a seven-week high with market participants speculating about remittance and bond inflows.
The peso ended the week at P53.64 against the dollar, against its previous close of P53.80 on Thursday.
This was the currency’s highest close since it hit P53.55 on Sept. 5.
The peso opened the session at P53.75, strengthening to its high of P53.64, which was also the closing level. The intraday low was P53.77.
Trading volume grew to $723 million from $667.1 million Thursday.
A foreign exchange trader said the peso strengthened against the dollar on Friday even though the US currency also firmed against other currencies.
The peso “Traded in a [stronger] range again today despite the dollar rally overnight,” the trader said in a phone interview.
Reuters reported that the dollar lingered near a 10-week high on Friday with traders expect strong US gross domestic product data.
“The peso was pushed more on the possibility of inflows for the weekend,” she added.
Another trader raised the possibility of inflows during the trading session.
“I would say there was a flow, but I’m not entirely sure where it came from,” the trader said.
“I think there could be a bond inflow. There was offshore money coming in to buy our [government securities]. I think yields have fallen today, so that could be another factor.” — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

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