PESO slightly weakened against the US dollar on Monday. — BW FILE PHOTO

THE PESO depreciated against the dollar on Monday amid risk-off sentiment and renewed concerns over China-US trade relations.
The local unit ended Monday’s session at P52.80 versus the greenback, nine centavos weaker than the P52.71-per-dollar finish last Friday.
The peso traded weaker the whole day, opening the session at P52.78 per dollar. It went to as low as P52.825 intraday, while its best showing stood at P52.72 against the US currency.
Trading volume thinned to $603.12 million from the $973.95 million that switched hands the previous day.
A trader said in an e-mail the peso slightly weakened on safe haven demand after the arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer (CFO).
“The arrest sparked fears of renewed US-China tensions despite the recently-agreed 90-day ceasefire on new tariffs,” the trader said in an e-mail.
Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1 at the request of US authorities. The US accused Ms. Weng of defrauding multinational banks about Huawei’s control of a company that was operating in Iran, in violation of American sanctions.
This sparked concerns over the trade relations between the world’s two largest economies that recently agreed on a 90-day trade ceasefire.
“It is the general sentiment amid a potential escalation of tensions between the US and China because of the recent arrest of Huawei’s CFO,” Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, UnionBank of the Philippines chief economist, said in a text message.
“Although domestic matters are seemingly stable, it is the external environment driving the sentiment about foreign exchange.”
For today, Mr. Asuncion as well as the trader expect the peso to trade between P52.70 and P52.90. — K.A.N. Vidal

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR