THE PESO weakened against the greenback on Wednesday on risk-off sentiment amid losses in the local stock market and the fresh surge in coronavirus cases here and abroad.
The local unit closed at P48.45 per dollar on Wednesday, depreciating by 13 centavos from its P48.32 finish on Tuesday, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed.
The peso opened the session at P48.33 per dollar, which was also its intraday best. Meanwhile, its weakest was at P48.455 against the greenback.
Dollars exchanged increased to $797.4 million yesterday from $684.6 million on Tuesday.
The peso weakened following losses in the stock market, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 61.03 points or 0.94% to close at 6,439.39 on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a trader said the peso dropped due to rising coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in many countries.
In the Philippines, cases rose by 9,227 on Wednesday to bring the total to 962,307. Infections across the world stood beyond 143.6 million, with deaths reaching 3.059 million.
For today, Mr. Ricafort gave a forecast range of P48.40 to P48.50 per dollar while the trader expects the local unit to move within the 48.35 and 48.55 levels. — LWTN