THE PESO strengthened against the dollar on Friday to return to the P51 level as it continued to correct following its plunge on Monday.

The local currency ended the week at P51.89 against the greenback, 21 centavos stronger than its P52.10 close on Thursday.

The peso traded stronger the whole day, opening the session at P52 versus the dollar. Its best showing yesterday was at P51.82. Its intraday low, meanwhile, was seen at P52.05 to the greenback.

Dollars traded slightly declined to $656.3 million on Friday from the $668.4 million that changed hands in the previous session.

Traders interviewed over the phone said the peso extended its strength in what is seen as a correction after its plunge to the P52 level on Monday.

“The magnitude of the move is too big, and given the fact that there was a support in the past four trading days. There was a support for the peso,” a trader said.

“Probably, the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) is providing liquidity lately. That prompted most of the players to try to square out the long-dollar-peso positions for now. Thus we saw a good correction,” the trader noted.

Meanwhile, another trader said domestic trading tracked the stronger local currency in the offshore exchange market.

“The offshore dollar-peso trading went [higher], that’s why we saw the peso strengthening,” the trader said, adding that the pair continued to trade within the range. — K.A.N. Vidal

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