Peso rises over reports of rising US housing prices
MANILA, Philippines—The peso inched up on Wednesday as reports of favorable US housing data improved investor sentiment.
The local currency closed at 42.675 against the US dollar, up by 1.5 centavos from the previous day’s finish of 42.69:$1.
Intraday high hit 42.635:$1, while intraday low settled at 42.69:$1. Volume of trade amounted to $631.5 million from $893.25 million previously.
The appreciation of the peso, which came together with the rise of other key Asian currencies, followed the release of a report showing that prices of single-family houses in the United States rose in February.
Traders said the data renewed hopes that the United States would continue to recover and thus boost the growth of the global economy.
They said that a better global economic outlook would help increase risk appetite of investors, thereby supporting more purchases of emerging market assets, such as those from the Philippines.
