The peso climbed to a two-month high against the US dollar Tuesday, on investors’ expectation of a delayed interest rates hike in the US.
The peso gained P0.20 to close at 46.24 a dollar Tuesday from 46.44 a dollar on Monday. It was the highest finish for the peso since it settled at 46.08 per greenback on June 13, 2016.
Trading volume reached $710 million Tuesday, up from $555 million Monday.
Security Bank said in a report that with “Fed Funds futures fully pricing in the next hike to June 2017, the US dollar should continue to remain range-bound with a bias to the downside.”
Brent crude traded at $48.04 a barrel Tuesday, down by 0.6 percent from Monday.
Bank of the Philippine Islands research officer Nicholas Antonio Mapa said reports of weak US retail sales were among the reasons behind the depreciation of the dollar.