MANILA, Aug 14 (PNA) – – Positive economic reports from the US resulted to the general strengthening of the dollar resulting to the sideways close of the Philippine peso on Friday.
The local unit ended the week at 46.21 after recovering to 46.15 a day ago.
A trader attributed this outturn to the report about the drop in initial jobless claims in the US and the rise in retail sales last July.
Data released by the US Labor Department showed that applications for unemployment benefited in the week ending August 8, 2015 reached 274,000, in line with market expectations of 270,000.
Figures for the previous week was revised down by 1,000, which a trader said is a plus for expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike in September.
Also, the Commerce Department said retail sales rose by 0.6 percent last July, unchanged from the previous month’s level and in line with market expectations.
”These boosted markets’ expectation for a rate hike next month,” a trader said.
For the day, the local currency opened at 46.15, little changed from the 46.18 a day ago.
It traded between 46.27 and 46.13 bringing the day’s average to 46.20.
Volume of trade reached USD 674.4 million, a little lower than Thursday’s USD 747.7 million.
There are no major economic reports scheduled for release in the US and other major economies next week and the trader said markets will be on the lookout for additional impact of the recent devaluation of the yuan.
Next week, the currency pair is seen to trade between 45.90 and 46.20. (PNA)