THE PESO weakened against the greenback on Monday as the market repositioned ahead of US President-elect Joseph R. Biden.’s first day in office.
The local currency inched down by one centavo to P48.075 versus the dollar on Monday from its P48.065 finish on Friday, based on the data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines.
It opened the session at P48.08 per dollar, which was also its weakest showing for the day, while it climbed to as high as P48.055 against the greenback.
Dollars traded went down to $418.70 million yesterday from $511.1 million on Friday.
“The peso depreciated from safe-haven demand over possible developments ahead of President-elect Biden’s inauguration this week,” a trader said via email on Monday.
Mr. Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala G. Harris will be sworn into office on Wednesday, Jan. 20. Mr. Biden earlier announced a $1.9-trillion stimulus package meant to support the world’s largest economy rebound from a pandemic-induced recession.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message that the local unit depreciated as “the US dollar versus major global currencies corrected to new one-month highs lately after softer US economic data on retail sales and consumer sentiment, after softer jobless claims data that suggest slower economic recovery.”
Mr. Ricafort said news on 29 elderly people dying in Norway after getting vaccinated for COVID-19 also led to a “healthy correction in US and global stock markets.”
The trader expects the peso to movie within P48 to P48.20 versus the dollar on Tuesday while Mr. Ricafort gave a lower forecast range of P48.04 to P48.10. — BML