Peso slightly weakens as investors monitor US-China trade talks

The peso weakened slightly against the dollar on Wednesday, Aug. 22, as investors continued to monitor trade talks between China and the United States.
The local unit closed on Wednesday at P53.425 versus the greenback, weaker by 4.5 centavos from the P53.38 finish on Monday.
The peso opened the session slightly stronger at P53.36 per dollar, climbing to as high as P53.35 intraday. Its worst showing for the day on the other hand stood at P54.44 against the US currency.
A foreign exchange trader said the peso weakened against its US counterpart, although it moved within the familiar range during the trading session.
“It weakened a bit, but it’s still within the range. It hovered around the P53.30-P53.55 range,” the trader said in a phone interview.
He added that the market focus was on the US-China trade discussion this week, hoping for a resolution to the escalating trade spat.
“We are still seeing the risk on the US-China trade talks. It’s still ongoing.”
Low-level talks are taking place this week, just before US tariffs on Chinese exports are due to take effect. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal