THE PESO weakened further on Friday as players covered their short dollar positions anew, while lingering uncertainties over rate hikes in the United States continued to spook investors.
The local unit closed at P52.45 versus the greenback, four centavos weaker than the P52.41 finish on Thursday.
The peso opened stronger at P52.35 and even touched P52.32 as its best showing within the day. However, the currency hit a low of P52.485 against the dollar before settling at the closing rate.
One trader said the local unit may be consolidating, as players are taking advantage of the recent appreciation in the exchange rate by covering their dollar requirements.
The trader noted that volumes traded on Friday may have been affected by the Thanksgiving holiday in the US. Markets were closed for the annual American celebration.
Some $655.24 million exchanged hands during the session, lower than the $914.63 million traded on Thursday.
Another trader also noted that the peso likely reeled from negative sentiment among global players, driven by worries offshore.
“The peso slightly depreciated due to risk-off sentiment amid uncertainties on global geopolitical concerns and lingering indecisiveness to the future monetary policy path of the US Federal Reserve next year,” the second trader said.
Reuters reported that market watchers are looking out for the upcoming meeting of United States and China on the sidelines of the G-20 sessions in Argentina, at a time of an escalating trade war between the two biggest economies which saw an exchange of tariffs on key commodity imports.
The peso has since pared its losses as it is now down by 4.48% year-to-date versus a depreciation of above 8% over the past few months. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

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