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Peso tumbles from multi-month peak


MANILA, Philippines - The peso on Thursday retreated from multi-month peaks against the dollar, tracking the movement in Asian stock exchanges that were weighed down by revived risk aversion. It closed just eight centavos short of the P47-per-dollar territory at P46.92, tumbling by 47 centavos from Wednesday’s three-and-a-half month high. Traders said dim employment data in the US, which showed the private sector shedding 693,000 jobs in December, dampened investor appetite for risky emerging market assets. Hopes that US President-elect Barack Obama’s stimulus plan would stem a more than year-long recession had earlier buoyed financial markets, but the gloomy picture of rising unemployment dragged Asian stocks and currencies anew. "The weak jobs data renewed concerns about the US economy. The employment picture globally seemed to be worsening too. Other currencies depreciated too," a trader said. Remittances, which allowed the local currency to enjoy a three-day winning streak to Wednesday, must have started to dry up, another trader said. — Maria Eloisa I. Calderon
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