Peso Up as US Retail Sales Soften Dollar

The Philippine peso firmed up against the greenback on Monday, after weaker-than-expected US economic data softened the dollar.

The local currency gained 15.5 centavos at P46.440:$1 from 46.595 Friday.

“US economic data overnight was weaker than expected and this caused the dollar to soften,” said a trader at a commercial bank.

Retail sales in the world’s largest economy was unexpectedly flat in July as consumers cut back on purchasing new goods while the producer price index fell 0.4 percent the same month, a report by Reuters said.

The peso-dollar rate is expected to be swayed by US July inflation figures and the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve policy meeting later this week. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News

(Source: GMAnetwork.com)