Peso closes flat ahead of Fed decision

The Philippine peso closed unchanged against the US dollar on Wednesday as investors wait for the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates.

The local currency closed at P50.89:$1, unchanged from Tuesday’s finish.

Wednesday’s close is still the best showing of the peso in nearly 18 months since it closed at P50.84:$1 on January 26, 2018.

“Market is factoring-in the rate cut by the Fed at the conclusion of its policy meeting later,” Security Bank chief economist Robert Dan Roces said.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is holding a policy meeting on July 30 and 31 to discuss whether current conditions warrant a policy change.

According to a report by Reuters, the Fed is expected to lower interest rates by 25 basis points this week—the central bank’s first rate cut in a decade.

“Any movement in the market will be caused by corporate demand until Fed chair Jerome Powell’s statement address on Fed’s direction moving forward,” Roces said. —VDS, GMA News