The peso rebounded Wednesday on buoyant currency and stock markets across the region and on the influx of foreign exchange remittances from overseas Filipino for the Christmas season.

The peso closed at 49.18 to the dollar, near the day’s peak of 49.13, rising from Tuesday’s finish at 49.50.

Currency traders said the market turned wary against hoarding dollars, given the strong remittance season and the central bank’s bias against excessive exchange rate volatility.

The volume of trading on the currency spot market thinned to $469 million from Tuesday’s $582 million.

Other currencies across the region also firmed up, but gains were capped by talks of a potential policy shift in China to let the yuan depreciate to boost the competitiveness of its exports.

Global credit watchdog Standard & Poor’s meanwhile said the funding environment in the Asia-Pacific region had worsened noticeably in recent weeks as the credit crisis continued to unfold.

“We estimate that a cumulative total of $368 billion of corporate debt rated by Standard & Poor’s—including non-financials and financials—will mature or come due for refunding beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008 and ending in 2011 in Asia,” S&P said in a commentary.

“By contrast, $2.1 trillion is expected to mature across all rating categories in Europe, and $700 billion is due within the US speculative-grade segment alone,” it said.

The Philippines is bracing for the maturity of $4.5 billion in debts next year, of which $2.6 billion represents public-sector requirements.

Including projected interest repayments, total foreign exchange outflows from external debt servicing are estimated to reach $7.0 billion next year, about one-fifth less than the anticipated 2008 requirement of $8.8 billion.

Despite low-rated corporate debt exposure, S&P said refinancing risk remained a growing overall concern for the region.

“Banks are much more cautious about lending, causing credit growth to decelerate substantially relative to the past couple of years,” said Diane Vazza, head of the S&P Global Fixed Income Research Group. “This pullback is perhaps keenest among global banks, though domestic banks in the region are not immune and are more likely to preserve relationships with the strongest credits.” With editing by INQUIRER.net