THE PESO slipped versus the dollar on Tuesday as the market pocketed gains from its recent rally.

The local unit closed at P51.18 against the greenback on Tuesday, weaker by seven centavos from the P51.105-per-dollar close on Friday.

The peso opened the session at P51.07 versus the dollar. Its weakest point for the day was at P51.245, while its intraday high was at P51.05 against the greenback.

Dollars traded on Tuesday grew to $1.396 billion from $1.103 billion on Monday.

A trader said that the peso’s weakness for the day was due to some flows.

“Nag-bounce lang (The exchange rate just bounced). I guess there were some flows. Generally, the trade is still for improvement,” the trader said by phone.

He said that lower imports mean lower demand for the dollar.

“These factors continue to drive peso recovery as opposed to weakened peso expectations due to delayed spending from the government. Recent signs are pointing to government catching up on spending,” the trader added.

Another trader blamed the peso’s decline on profit taking after the unit’s climb last week.

“The market seems to be having a short position given the downward trading of peso,” the second trader added.

For today, the first trader expects the peso to range from P51.00-51.50 against the dollar while the second trader sees it moving around the P51.15-51.35 band.

Meanwhile, trade-exposed Asian currencies got some support on Tuesday from upbeat comments on the progress of US-China trade negotiations, but other units were capped by cautious investor sentiment.

Both the United States and China said talks on resolving their bitter trade war were progressing with White House adviser Larry Kudlow adding that tariffs scheduled for December could be withdrawn. — LWTN with Reuters

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