Peso rebounds on Powell speech

The Philippine peso rebounded against the US dollar on Thursday, following pronouncements of US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

The local currency gained 14 centavos to close at P50.68:$1 versus Wednesday's finish of P50.82:$1.

"The PHP-USD pair fell as investors factored in Powell's speech on the US economy," a foreign exchange trader from a local bank said in a phone interview.

Speaking before US Congress, Powell said the economy would likely continue to grow, but face risks from a global slowdown and trade disputes.

"In the first of back-to-back days of testimony before Congress, meanwhile, Powell reaffirmed that the US central bank is on hold after cutting the benchmark lending rate three times this year," according to a report by Agence France-Presse. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/RSJ, GMA News