By Joann Santiago
MANILA, Jan. 20 (PNA) — Foreign buying in the local equities market continue to help the peso Tuesday after the local currency ended the day sideways against the US dollar.
The local unit ended the week’s first trading day at 44.61 from 44.67 Wednesday last week.
”The peso’s strength was on the back of remittances flows after days of holiday and foreign buying into local equities with local players booking gains,” a trader told PNA.
Trading last week and this week was shorter than usual due to the State and Papal visit of Pope Francis in the Philippines from January 15-19, 2015.
For this week, the local unit opened at 44.67 from 44.71 in the previous trading, buoyed by strong capital flows.
The peso traded between its closing level and 44.73 bringing the day’s average at 44.67.
Volume of trade reached USD 606.8 million, a tad lower than the USD 706.1 million last Wednesday.
For Wednesday, the local currency is forecast to remain strong with the trading range seen between 44.60 and 44.80. (PNA)