Philippines peso closes 43.79 versus dollar

The Philippines peso continues to trade sideways to a US dollar and closed marginally better at 43.79 Thursday from day-ago’s 43.77, according to Philippines News Agency report. A trader told PNA that the local currency continues to trade sideways because investors continue to await decisions on the stimulus programme of the Federal Reserve. Analysts expect the US central bank to cut its US$ 85 Billion monthly bond-buying programme starting September this year on more positive economic data from the world’s largest economy. Another factor for the exchange rate environment Thursday is the report on US’ inflation rate for last July. US inflation rose by 0.5% last June from month-ago’s 0.1%. The rate of price increases is among the data being considered by the Fed in deciding on its policy stance. With this, the peso opened better at 43.73 from 43.80 the previous day. It traded between 43.80 and 4.72 bringing the average for the day at 43.75. The volume of trade reached US$ 648.6 Million, slightly lower than the US$ 878.77 Million. The peso is expected to trade between 43.60 and 43.90 Friday.