THE PESO weakened further against the dollar on Monday on expectations of faster December inflation.
The local unit closed at P58.27 per dollar on Monday, declining by seven centavos from its P58.20 finish on Friday, Bankers Association of the Philippines data showed.
The peso opened Monday’s session unchanged at P58.20 against the dollar. Its worst showing was at P58.36, while its intraday best was at P58.17 versus the greenback.
Dollars traded declined to $1.74 billion on Monday from $1.38 billion on Friday.
The peso was dragged down by expectations of a slight pickup in Philippine December headline inflation, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.
The dollar was also broadly stronger as the market waits for this week’s release of key US jobs data, which could dictate the US Federal Reserve’s next move, he added.
“The dollar-peso traded higher on cautious sentiment ahead of local CPI (consumer price index) [on Tuesday] and ahead of key US jobs data. [On Monday night], we have US factory orders and towards the end of the week, we have nonfarm payrolls,” a trader likewise said in a phone interview.
A BusinessWorld poll of 13 analysts yielded a median estimate of 2.7% for the December CPI, within the central bank’s 2.3%-3.1% forecast. If realized, this would be faster than the 2.5% print in November and mark a third straight month of acceleration. Still, this would be slower than 3.9% in December 2023.
For Tuesday, the trader sees the peso moving between P58.00 and P58.50 per dollar, while Mr. Ricafort expects it to range from P58.15 to P58.35. — A.M.C. Sy
