Peso extends winning streak for 4th straight trading day

The Philippine peso appreciated for the fourth consecutive trading session on Wednesday, as its US counterpart was dragged by a lack of demand.

The local currency gained 1.5 centavos to close at P48.13:$1 versus Tuesday's finish of P48.145:$1.

"Lack of demand for the greenback as imports remain lackluster and influx of remittances," BDO Unibank Inc. chief market strategist Jonathan Ravelas said in a mobile message.

Latest data available from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) shows that imports fell 16.5% year-on-year to $7.924 billion in September while exports rose 2.2% to $6.216.33 billion, bringing the trade gap to $1.707 billion.

Meanwhile, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that remittances grew 9.3% to $2.601 billion in September from $2.379 billion the same month last year. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/RSJ, GMA News