Philippine Peso Trading Better Vs. Us Dollar A Day After National Polls

The Philippine peso opened better against the US dollar Tuesday, a day after the national polls and an analyst partly attributed this to the election-related long-weekend holiday.

The local unit opened the week’s first trading day at 47.20, way better than its 47.35 start Friday last week.

This is contrary to what is happening at the local bourse, which started the day on the red.

As of 9:50 a.m., it has strengthened to 47.00, and Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. (BDO) chief strategist Jonathan Ravelas told PNA that the “long weekend due to elections slightly pushed USD/PHP stronger.”

He said this performance of the local unit “could be temporary” as he projects the currency pair to trade between 47.00-47.30 within the day.

He said the pair could even touch the 47.50-level during the day as the dollar “gains against major and Asian currencies.”

“Still external factors will remain the key focus now that elections are behind us,” he added. (PNA) JMC/JSV/EBP