Published 9:00 AM, November 26, 2016
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine peso ended its 7-day losing streak on Friday, November 25, gaining 14 centavos with the expected surge in cash remittances from overseas Filipinos as the Christmas holidays near.
The peso hit an intra-day low of P49.99 to $1 before rebounding to an intra-day high of P49.80 to $1.
The peso briefly breached the P50 to $1 level on Thursday – the first time in a decade. The last time the local currency was weaker than P50 to the dollar was in November 2006.
The peso closed at P49.84 to $1 from Thursday’s P49.98 to $1. Volume picked up to $538.2 million from the other day’s $437.6 million.
The greenback continued to surge to 14-year highs ahead of the US Federal Reserve interest rate hike in December and the assumption of office of US president-elect Donald Trump in January.
Traders said the peso's movement on Friday did not stray from that of regional currencies.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr said the expected increased remittances from overseas Filipinos in the last two months of the year would temper the weakness of the peso.
“We may see some more of US dollar strength. This may, however, be dampened by upcoming thanksgiving holiday. Peso weakness may also be trimmed as remittances are expected to rise ahead of the Christmas holidays,” he said.
Latest data from the BSP showed cash remittances grew 6.7% to hit a year-high of $2.38 billion in September, from $2.23 billion in the same month last year.
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