THE PESO closed almost flat against the dollar on Thursday as the market continued to digest mixed signals from the Trump administration regarding tariff negotiations.
The local unit closed at P56.555 per dollar on Thursday, slipping by a centavo from its P56.545 finish on Wednesday, Bankers Association of the Philippines data showed.
The peso opened Thursday’s session slightly stronger at P56.50 against the dollar. Its worst showing was at P56.64, while its intraday best was at P56.43 versus the greenback.
Dollars traded rose to $1.44 billion on Thursday from $1.19 billion on Wednesday.
“The dollar-peso consolidated within a narrow range due to a lack of catalysts and as players continue to monitor US President Donald J. Trump’s trade actions,” a trader said in a phone interview.
Conflicting signals from the Trump administration on their trade policies continued to affect the market, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort added in a Viber message.
For Friday, the trader expects the peso to move between P56.40 and P56.70 per dollar, while Mr. Ricafort sees it ranging from P56.45 to P56.65.
A rebound in the dollar lost traction as investors tried to sift through the noise from the Trump administration and its fickle stance on tariffs and the US Federal Reserve’s leadership, Reuters reported.
Over the last week, Mr. Trump rained attacks on Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell then retracted calls for his resignation, and left investors none the wiser on the ultimate state of tariffs on China despite many headlines.
The Trump administration would look at lowering tariffs on imported Chinese goods pending talks with Beijing, a source told Reuters on Wednesday.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said high tariffs between the US and China were not sustainable, but also said such a move would not come unilaterally, echoing comments from White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.
China’s commerce ministry said on Thursday the United States should lift all unilateral tariff measures against China if it “truly” wanted to solve the trade issue.
That all helped the dollar to rally on Wednesday, but the moves faded on Thursday. The dollar was weaker, off 0.6% on the Japanese yen and Swiss franc at 142.5 yen and 0.826 francs, while the euro gained 0.5% to $1.1375.
“Pantomime policies produce pantomime markets,” said analysts at Rabobank in a note.
“This has been fully evident in the oscillating price action in recent sessions with Trump’s ‘he’s behind you, oh no he isn’t!’ approach to governing not only prompting market reversals but even arguably resulting in the same driver provoking two diametrically opposed reactions.” — A.M.C. Sy with Reuters