Peso closes at new 12-year low of P53.94:$1

September 11, 2018

The Philippine peso closed at a new 12-year low of P53.94 against the US dollar on Tuesday, six centavos down from the previous day.

Volume at the Bankers Association of the Philippines foreign exchange portal reached $434.1 million from Monday's $434.9 million.

An economic bulletin by the Department of Finance said "the Philippine peso has been moving in tandem with Asian currencies amid severe exchange rate volatility spawned by the global trade war, the Turkey-Argentina crisis and the Fed monetary normalization. "

"Year-to-date, the Philippine peso depreciated by 7.39 percent, ranking  third among 12 currencies of the fastest growing Asian countries," the bulletin added.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index closed at 7,518.01 points, down 78.14 points. In the broader market, there were 150 decliners, 58 gainers and 42 shares unchanged.

Volume reached 1.12 billion shares worth P5.4 billion from Monday's 1.44 billion shares valued at P7.4 billion. Foreigners were net sellers, with selling at P2.58 billion while buying was at P2.01 billion.

Most traded shares were led by Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 0.86 percent to P86.90; Ayala Land, down 0.36 percent to P41,85, Phoenix Petroleum, down 1.75 percent to P11.20 and Ayala Corp., down 2.02 percent to P895.50. DMS