THE PESO climbed against the greenback on Friday following the end of the government’s retail Treasury bond (RTB) offering the day prior.
The local unit closed at P48.56 per dollar on Friday, gaining six centavos from its Thursday finish of P48.62. It also appreciated by three centavos from its P48.59-per-dollar close on Feb. 26.
The peso opened Friday’s session at P48.66 a dollar. Its weakest showing was at P48.67 while its intraday best was at P48.525 against the greenback.
Dollars traded increased to $933.45 million on Friday from $817.23 million on Thursday.
The peso strengthened after the closure of the RTB offering, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a text message.
“[This] could have entailed some foreign buyers and inflows of dollars despite higher inflation data,” Mr. Ricafort said in a text message.
The Bureau of the Treasury on Thursday said it raised P463.3 billion in three-year retail Treasury bonds, marking its second-biggest issuance for the securities so far following the record P516.3 billion in five-year RTBs sold last year.
Broken down, P411.8 billion were fresh funds or “new money” while P51.5 billion were issued under the bond exchange program.
Meanwhile, a trader said profit-taking ahead of the US jobs report also fuelled the peso’s strength on Friday. — LWTN