Peso rises on news of rising global demand, SoKor growth

MANILA, Philippines — The peso inched up on Thursday amid indicators global demand could be picking up, such as favorable growth of South Korea in the first quarter and manageable uptick in oil prices.

AFP FILE PHOTO

The local currency closed at 41.26 against the US dollar, up by 2.5 centavos from the previous day’s finish of 41.285:$1.
Intraday high hit 41.255:$1, while intraday low settled at 41.33:$1.

Volume of trade amounted to $686.7 million from $958.93 million previously.

The appreciation of the peso came following the release of a report showing that in the first quarter, South Korea’s economy grew by 1.5 percent from a year ago and by 0.9 from a quarter ago, exceeding some projections.

The rise of the peso likewise came amid reports of rising prices of oil in the global market.

Traders said the favorable performance of South Korea and increasing prices of oil in the world market could indicate that global demand has been picking u

p. If such is indeed the case, exporting countries are expected to benefit in the form of higher export revenues in the months ahead, according to traders.