THE PESO continued its ascent against the dollar yesterday ahead of a speech by US Federal Chair Janet L. Yellen.

The local currency moved sideways against the greenback to close at P50.74, five centavos stronger than the P50.79-per-dollar finish on Monday.

The peso opened slightly weaker at P50.80 and hit a low of P50.88 against the greenback. Its intraday high stood at P50.72 versus the dollar.

Dollars traded totalled $584.9 million, slightly up from Monday’s finish of $577.1 million.

Traders interviewed yesterday attributed the sideways movement to the market’s wait-and-stance ahead of a public appearance by Fed chair Ms. Yellen.

“They are awaiting if there will be change in [Fed’s] policies whether they will continue to hike their interest rates gradually,” a trader said over the phone yesterday.

Ms. Yellen was set to participate in a panel discussion at the New York University Stern School of Business last night. The Fed chair is expected to speak about monetary policy and possibly hint on future moves.

Meanwhile, traders also saw some profit taking ahead of Ms. Yellen’s speech.

“We also saw some selling [yesterday], more of profit taking ahead of the speech,” another trader said, noting that there were no market catalysts in the trading that triggered big movements yesterday.

Traders are expecting the peso to range between P50.60 and P51 versus the dollar today.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s ringgit and South Korea’s won edged up on Tuesday, buoyed by expectations of tighter monetary policy after recently strong economic growth while most Asian currencies traded sideways.

Investor risk appetite was largely subdued, with the euro pressured by political deadlock in Germany. The euro rose slightly after dropping in the previous session as German coalition government talks collapsed on the pro-business Free Democrats withdrawing from negotiations.

The dollar index was lower but still near a one-week high against its peers.

“People are trying to take back their bets. The US dollar has been coming under pressure because of the tax view, and now along with this week being short one on holiday there might be some profit taking,” said Lee Jin Yang, macro research analyst for Aberdeen Asset Management in Singapore.

US markets will be closed on Thursday due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

“But Asian currencies have been relatively unaffected by what has been going on in the US and that has lent support to the currencies.” — with Reuters

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR