THE PESO will likely depreciate this week amid persistent signs of slowing global growth.

On Friday, the peso closed at P52.50 versus the greenback, up 25 centavos from Thursday’s finish of P52.75, boosted by demand for riskier currencies driven by developments in the US-China trade negotiations. Week on week, however, the peso weakened from the P52.32-per-dollar finish last March 22.

“The dollar is expected to move sideways with an upward bias this week as demand for safer currencies might improve amid new signs of slowing global growth,” a market analyst said in an e-mail on Sunday.

On Monday, the peso is expected to appreciate slightly on weaker-than-expected US economic data on personal income, personal spending and personal consumption expenditure inflation, reinforcing views of a slowing US economy. However, the analyst said the depreciation of the dollar may be capped by the demand for safer currencies.

“Towards the end of the week, the dollar is still expected to move sideways, but with some upward bias, as likely softer economic data from China and the Eurozone could fuel concerns on slowing global growth, thereby increasing investors’ appetite for safer currencies like the greenback,” the market watcher added.

However, the greenback might shed some of its strength on the release of the local inflation data for the month of March.

For this week, the analyst expects the peso to move between P52.20 and P52.80, while a trader gave a P52.30-P52.80 range. — K.A.N. Vidal

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