Peso rebounds back to three-year highs

The Philippine peso rebounded against its US counterpart on Wednesday, riding on a regional rally as the greenback remained downbeat.

The local currency gained 1.5 centavos to close at P49.375:$1 from Tuesday's finish of P49.39:$1.

Wednesday's finish is the same as Monday's close, the strongest in over three years since the currency ended at P49.35:$1 on November 16, 2016.

According to ING Bank Manila senior economist Nicholas Antonio Mapa, the peso tracked its regional peers, with market players taking monitoring the fiscal stimulus in European markets.

"USD remained downbeat overnight in Asia with investors focusing on the recent round of fiscal stimulus from the EU and given hopes for more stimulus from the US," he said in an email interview.

"PHP enjoyed an appreciation bias on Wednesday despite foreign investors selling more local stocks as the local currency tracked the regional rally," he added.

According to data from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), foreign funds bought P2.074 billion of shares during Wednesday's session and sold P2.467 billion for a net selling position of P393.108 million.

"The Peso however trailed the day’s biggest winners with net foreign selling noted in the PSE for a 13th straight session and as FDI figures reported continued to show less inflows of foreign investments into the country during the pandemic," said Mapa.

The central bank reported a foreign direct investments (FDI) net inflow of $311 million in April, 67.9% lower than the same month last year. — RSJ, GMA News