Peso sustains rally, climbs to P44.525 per dollar

The peso sustained its rally on Wednesday, posting a fresh 20-month record on the back of continued investor optimism on the rescue package for debt-saddled Greece. The local currency gained another 15 centavos to close at P44.525, beating the P44.72 close on August 13, 2008. "It’s more of the same reasons. Basically it’s still on the risk appetite of investors brought by the financial aid to Greece. Everybody was actually expecting the peso to sustain its positive performance today," a trader told GMANews.TV. The peso opened at P44.60 — its weakest for the day — and climbed to as high as P44.50 against the greenback. Trade was brisk at P1.05 billion, which the trader traced to central bank intervention. "There was strong intervention from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas today. It bought a lot of dollars today and traders actually stayed on the sidelines. But eventually, the peso sustained its strength, along with the other currencies in the region," the trader said. While the outlook for the peso was intact, all eyes would be on the central bank on Thursday, the trader pointed out. "Tomorrow is going to be the BSP’s call," the trader said, adding that the peso’s strength would depend much on whether the central bank would allow it to rise further to P44.50 per dollar. — Nikka A. Corsino/NPA, GMANews.TV