Peso may trade in tight range to open the year amid holiday-thinned liquidity

THE PESO could move within a limited range to open 2026 amid a lack of catalysts, with activity likely to be driven by positioning and entities keen to take advantage of bargains to secure their dollar requirements.

On Dec. 29, the last trading day for 2025, the local unit closed at P58.79 versus the greenback, depreciating by eight centavos from its P58.71 finish on Dec. 26, 2025.

Year on year, the peso depreciated by 94.5 centavos or by 1.61% from its P57.845 close at end-2024.

Philippine financial markets were closed on Dec. 30, Dec. 31, and Jan. 1 for Rizal Day and the New Year holidays.

The peso will likely continue to move sideways when the market reopens on Friday as players seek fresh leads, a trader said in a text message.

“There could still be some accumulated though residual seasonal increase in OFW (overseas Filipino workers) remittances and conversion to pesos to finance Yuletide- and New Year-related holiday spending, though offset by some bargain hunting by some importers and others with requirements for US dollars,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message. He expects the peso to move between P58.65 and P58.95 per dollar on Friday.

Meanwhile, the US dollar advanced on Wednesday, erasing earlier declines after a stronger-than-expected labor market reading, Reuters reported.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.27% to 98.50.

For the year 2025, the dollar was down more than 9%. — AMCS