THE PESO continued to strengthen against the dollar on Thursday as political tensions abroad eased.
The local unit ended the session at P52.52 versus the greenback, eight centavos stronger than the P52.60-per-dollar finish on Wednesday.
The peso strengthened immediately, opening the session at P52.53.
It rose to a P52.48-per-dollar high intraday, while its worst showing for the day stood at P52.635.
Dollars traded climbed to $886.88 million from Wednesday’s $686.1 million.
A trader interviewed on Thursday said the peso appreciated as it continued its climb seen the previous day.
“It traded within the range, although it moved [higher] due to the continuation of the reversal [on Wednesday],” the trader said in a phone interview, adding that the local unit moved sideways amid the bigger trading volume.
Meanwhile, another trader attributed the rise of the peso versus the dollar to positive developments in political situations overseas.
“The local currency strengthened today after geopolitical uncertainties in Italy temporarily eased [and] positive developments on a possible US-North Korean talks,” the trader said in an e-mail on Thursday.
Global stocks as well as the euro bounced back after political tensions in Italy eased.
Two anti-establishment parties in Rome renewed efforts to form a coalition government rather than force the country to hold another round of elections this year, Reuters reported.
On the other hand, the United States and North Korea entered the second day of meetings in New York to settle their disagreements on nuclear weapons and iron out the June 12 summit between their two leaders.
The second trader added that “weaker US economic data” on Wednesday night helped the local currency to strengthen.
The US economy grew at a slightly slower pace in the first quarter at 2.2%, revised from the 2.3% announced previously. Likewise, consumer spending also saw a downward revision at a 1% growth versus the 1.1% previously.
For Friday, the first trader sees the peso moving between P52.45 and P52.65 against the dollar, while the other gave a slightly lower range of P52.40-P52.60.
“The peso might erase its gains ahead of likely upbeat non-farm payrolls data and firm unemployment figures from the US,” the second trader noted. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

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