Peso slightly up on rising remittances

MANILA, Philippines—The peso inched up slightly on Tuesday as investor sentiment was dampened by lingering uncertainties in the eurozone on one hand but was buoyed by reports of rising remittances to the Philippines on the other.

The local currency closed at its intraday high of 42.66 against the US dollar on the second trading day of the week, down by 4.5 centavos from Monday’s finish of 42.705:$1.

Intraday low settled at 42.83:$1. Volume of trade amounted to $1.057 billion from $697.49 million previously.

Trading was somewhat volatile, as the peso was moving higher and lower than the previous day’s finish during intraday trade.

The slight appreciation of the peso in the latter trading hours of the day came following the release of a report showing the remittances to the Philippines grew by 5 percent to $1.7 billion in March.

Traders said the still growing remittances to the country proved the presence of sources of growth for the Philippines even if exports would remain anemic because of the persistent economic problems in many advanced economies.

But traders also said investors have remained concerned over the uncertainties in the eurozone, especially with the political problems that have been posing a challenge to the implementation of measures to combat the crisis in the Western region.

Debt-ridden Greece still has to have a coalition government as it confronts protests against austerity measures, which it must implement if it wants to continue receiving financial aid. Protests against austerity measures are also strong in Spain and other parts of the eurozone.