Peso slightly up as investors in mood to buy local securities

MANILA, Philippines—The peso inched up slightly on the first trading day of the week as investors manifested appetite for local securities amid a favorable outlook on the domestic economy.

The local currency closed at 40.89 against the US dollar, up by 2 centavos from Friday’s finish of 40.91:$1.

Intraday high hit 40.87:$1, while intraday low settled at 40.93:$1.

Volume of trade amounted to $840.93 million from $1.44 billion previously.

The rise of the peso came as higher demand for equities pushed the Philippine Stock Exchange Index to register a new all-time high, doing so for the first four consecutive trading days of 2013.

The PSEi closed at 6,044.91, up by 73.46 points.

The increased demand for peso-denominated securities and the resulting rise of the peso occurred amid views that the Philippines would post yet another robust economic growth in 2013 and that it would finally get an investment grade.

The government expects the Philippine economy to grow by 6 to 7 percent in 2013. In the first three quarters of 2012, the economy grew by 6.5 percent.

“The economy is in an unprecedented growth momentum, supported by solid fundamentals,” Francisco Sebastian, chairman of First Metro Investments Corp., said in a press briefing on Monday.