The local currency lost 5 centavos in Monday trade and closed at P50.70:$1 from P50.65:$1 on Friday last week. “The peso initially appreciated today after weak US inflation data supported views of a gradual pace of US interest rate normalization,” said Land Bank of the Philippines market economist Guian Angelo Dumalagan. US inflation data came in softer than expected in June at 0.0 percent against a 0.1 percent estimate. “There might also be caution in the market ahead of the ECB [European Central Bank] monetary policy meeting” this week, he said. The peso first touched the P50:$1 level on November 24 last year as bets on interest rate hikes in the US, which actually happened in December, favored the dollar.

Source: Manila Times July 17, 2017 17:48 UTC