Peso extends winning streak vs. US dollar to mark four-year high

The Philippine currency appreciated against its US counterpart for the third consecutive trading day on Monday, to mark its strongest showing in over four years.

The local currency gained 10.5 centavos to close at P47.695:$1 from last Friday's finish of P47.8:$1. This is the strongest since September 15, 2016 when it closed at P47.695:$1.

The appreciation came ahead of the announcement of quarantine restrictions for the NCR Plus bubble -- Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, and Bulacan -- for the month of June.

"Peso also stronger amid continued positive effects of the S&P reaffirmation of the country's credit ratings for the second straight year despite the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in credit rating downgrades for more than 100 countries worldwide," Michael Ricafort, chief economist at the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said in a mobile message.

S&P Global Ratings last week affirmed its credit ratings for the Philippines at "BBB+" with a stable outlook — two notches above the minimum investment grade—which the country received in April 2019.

Also among the factors that played a role in Monday's trading are the inclusion of the A4 in the vaccination priority list for June, and the foreign investment inflows from fundraising activities.

Consumer heavyweight Monde Nissin Corp. is scheduled to list on Tuesday, June 1. It issued 3.6 billion common shares at P13.50 apiece, with an overallotment option of 540 million common shares, which was oversubscribed.  —NB, GMA News