The peso strengthened to a fresh 44-month high against the US dollar on Tuesday and neared the 48 level on investors’ loss of appetite for the greenback.
Data showed the peso gained six centavos to close at 49.19 Tuesday from 49.25 on Monday. It was its strongest level since settling at 49.17 a dollar on Nov. 15, 2016. Total volume reached $849.4 million Tuesday, up from $838.17 million in the previous session.
“There is [a continued] loss of appetite for the US dollar… The dollar remains weak [partly] given by the continued rift between the US and China,” Astro del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Finance Inc., a finance and investment company, told Manila Standard in an interview.
Del Castillo, however, does not see the peso breaching the 48-per-dollar boundary soon. “I think it will just consolidate around that level… Maybe 49.10 to 49.12 per dollar this week,” Del Castillo said.
