The peso weakened against the dollar on Tuesday, March 27, in preparation of the market inflow on Wednesday.

The local currency ended Tuesday’s session at P52.32 versus the greenback, 11.5 centavos weaker than the P52.215-per-dollar finish on Monday.

The peso opened the session stronger at P52.15 against the dollar, while its best showing stood at P52.135. Its intraday low was at P52.33-per-greenback.

Dollars traded increased to $712.9 million from the $688.9 million traded on Monday.

A trader told BusinessWorld yesterday that he saw strong dollar demand late afternoon, dampening the local currency near its intraday low.

“I think the upsurge was due mostly on covering of sell flow tomorrow,” the trader said. “We are expecting large amount of inflow come tomorrow that’s why there’s short covering today.”

Meanwhile, Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at UnionBank of the Philippines, attributed the weak peso to the higher oil prices in the world market.

“Although the US dollar value dropped, it seems the downward pressure today came from the lingering tension in the Middle East, pushing the Brent higher,” he said in a text message.

According to a report from Reuters, the oil price rose on Monday, with the Brent crude futures opening above $70 per barrel for the first time since January.

The higher crude prices was due to the expectations that Saudi Arabia may continue the supply cut until 2019, and was also due to the concerns that the US may re-introduce sanctions against Iran. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal with Reuters

 

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