MANILA, Sept. 17 (PNA) — The Philippine peso sustained its rally against the greenback on Thursday following the release of a report on the slowdown in the United States inflation rate in August 2015.
The local unit ended the day at PhP 46.44 from day-ago’s PhP 46.65, or an improvement of 21 centavos.
A trader said continued positive performance of the Chinese equity market, particularly during the day’s morning session, also boosted investors’ risk sentiment.
“The FOMC is having their meetings and expectations by some of a possible rate hike waned after the inflation turnout last August,” the trader said.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is holding its meeting from Sept. 16-17 and markets await its decision, with some analysts still open to a hike in the Federal Reserve rates after US monetary officials earlier noted the continued improvement in the US economy.
The local unit started the day at PhP 46.58, a big jump from the PhP 46.72 a day ago.
It traded between its opening level and PhP 46.43, resulting to an average of PhP 46.51.
Volume of trade remained low at USD 491.4 million from day-ago’s USD 417 million, which a trader attributed to investors’ wait-and-see stance ahead of the FOMC decision.
On Friday, the currency pair is seen to trade between PhP 46.40 and PhP 46.60. (PNA)