Peso appreciates for 4th straight session on inflation data

The Philippine peso appreciated against its US counterpart for the fourth consecutive trading day on Tuesday, following the positive economic data.

The local currency gained 9 centavos to close at P50.41:$1 from P50.5:$1 on Monday.

“The peso appreciated from market optimism following the softer Philippine reports for October 2019,” Guian Angelo Dumalagan, market economist at the Land Bank of the Philippines, said.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier on Monday reported that inflation settled at 0.8% in October, the slowest in over three years since April 2016’s 0.7%.

Dumalagan also attributed the peso’s strength to recent remarks by US Commerce Secretary Wilburr Rose on the trade talks between the world’s two biggest economies.

According to a report by Reuters, Rose said licenses for US companies to sell components to China’s Huawei Technologies Co. are expected to come “very shortly.” —VDS, GMA News