Peso firms up to 9-month high on renewed US-China trade war fears

The Philippine peso appreciated to a nine-month against the dollar on Friday as renewed worries that US and China could not reach a trade deal weigh on the greenback.

The local currency gained 17 centavos to close at P52.07:$1 from 52.24 on Thursday.

This is the strongest for the peso since May 10, 2018 when the pair closed at P51.80:$1.

“The peso was stronger today to close at 52.07, among best in nine months, partly to due to weaker US dollar against major global and Asian currencies after US President Donald Trump said he will not have a meeting with Chinese President Xi before the March 1, 2019 deadline of the 90-day truce in US-China trade war,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. lead economist Michael Ricafort said.

Continued foreign buying on the Philippine Stock Exchange also helped lift the local unit, Ricafort noted.

Foreign funds bought P3.798 billion of shares and sold P3.526 billion for a net buying position of P272.659 million, data from the Philippine Stock Exchange showed.

Week-on-week, the local unit gained 14 centavos from P52.21:$1 on February 1. The peso was stronger by 44 centavos from  52.515 on January 2, the first trading day of 2019. —VDS, GMA News