MANILA, March 18(PNA) — The Philippine peso depreciated anew to a dollar Wednesday as investors await announcements from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) after its two-day meeting ends later in the day.
The local currency shed 20 centavos to end the day at PHP44.75 from PHP44.55 a day ago.
“It’s close is not unusual as it is the same elsewhere,” a trader told PNA in an interview.
The trader said investors remain undecided if the Fed will really hike its key rates by June given negative economic data from the U.S. these past days.
“It (the hike) remains to be seen since any adjustments in the Fed rate will definitely have an impact to the global financial markets,” the trader said.
For the day, the local unit opened at PHP44.65, weaker than the PHP44.43 in the previous trading.
It was able to strengthen to PHP44.59 mid-trade but also dipped to PHP44.80.
This brought the day’s average to PHP44.69 also weaker compared to the PHP44.46 Tuesday.
For Thursday, the currency pair is seen to trade between PHP44.60 and PHP44.80. (PNA)