Peso sinks back into 56: $1 territory

The Philippine peso weakened back to the 56:$1 level, closing at 56.20:$1 on Dec. 28 after 14 trading days below this threshold.

This was the weakest trading position of the local currency since 56.22:$1 last Dec.1.

The peso gained against the greenback to as strong as 55.09:$1 on Dec. 22, its best in five and a half months.

Since then, the peso has depreciated over three consecutive days and lost as much as 75 centavos in one day to 55.90:$1 on Dec.27 from 55.15:$1 the day before.

On Wednesday, the peso lost 12 centavos to the US dollar.

Michael Ricafort, chief economist at the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the exchange rate corrected weaker for the US dollar for the third straight day after the greenback strengthened over seven straight trading days.

This is “considered a healthy technical correction … but [the exchange rate is] still near four-month lows or since Aug. 31,” Ricafort said.