THE PESO strengthened versus the greenback on Wednesday due to optimism caused by the vaccination drive that will happen later this month.
The local unit ended trading at P50.069 per dollar on Wednesday, appreciating by 2.2 centavos from its close of P50.091 on Tuesday, based on data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines.
The peso opened Wednesday’s session at P50.15 per dollar, which was also its worst showing for the day. Meanwhile, its intraday best was at P50.005 against the greenback.
Dollars exchanged declined to $1.016 billion on Wednesday from $1.385 billion on Tuesday.
The peso strengthened following the announcement of a national vaccination drive, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte in a taped address said a three-day massive vaccination drive will be held from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, which will coincide with the Bonifacio Day commemoration on Nov. 30.
The government is eyeing to administer 15 million vaccine jabs during the three-day event.
Meanwhile, a trader said the market was waiting for the US consumer inflation report set to be released later on Wednesday.
The US Labor department on Tuesday said producer price index for final demand rose 0.6% last month after climbing 0.5% in September, according to Reuters.
For Thursday, Mr. Ricafort gave a forecast range of P49.95 to P50.15 per dollar, while the trader expects the local unit to move within P50 to P50.20. — LWTN with Reuters