The peso weakened slightly against the dollar on Wednesday, April 18, on the back of strong US housing data as well as the easing diplomatic tensions between North and South Korea.
The local currency ended Wednesday’s session at P52.07 versus the greenback, two centavos weaker than the P52.05-per-dollar finish on Tuesday.
The peso traded weaker the whole day, opening the session flat at P52.05, which was also its best showing for the day. Meanwhile, it dipped to as low as P52.135 against the US currency intraday.
Dollars traded rose to $502 million from the $427.3 million that switched hands on Tuesday.
A trader told BusinessWorld that the pair has been trading within a tight range for the past few weeks.
“It has been the same for the past two or three weeks already. We haven’t seen movement in dollar-peso lately,” the trader said in a phone message.
“I guess, we’re continuing to see demand coming from both sides. A few days ago, we saw oil companies buying dollars. At the same time, there were also inflows, although I’m not sure where that came from,” the trader added.
Meanwhile, another trader attributed the slight weakness of the local currency to the “US housing data last night and news of Trump’s diplomatic talks with North Korea.”
According to Reuters, housing starts in the US rose 1.9% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.319 million units, more than the consensus among economists of 1.262 million units in a Reuters poll.
Meanwhile, an unnamed South Korean official said the two Koreas are set to announce a permanent end to the military conflict between Pyongyang and Seoul.
The two countries have technically been at war since the Korean War ended in 1953 ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will go to South Korea next week to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in for a summit.
Mr. Kim and President Donald J. Trump are also poised to hold talks in late May or June, according to the North Korean state media. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

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