Peso gains 18 centavos as equities rally

MANILA, Philippines - A rally in equities pulled up the peso to P47.37 to a dollar Thursday, 18 centavos stronger than the previous day. "The peso strengthened during the day mainly because of the rebound in global equity markets particularly Wall Street," a trader said. The positive mood in the international market boosted the local market, he added. The Dow Jones industrial average’s climb by close to three hundred points Wednesday night pulled up the bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index Thursday. The peso opened strong at P47.33 to a dollar and posted an intraday high of P47.30, before falling to an intraday low of P47.44. "Local stocks were up as well as most Asian currencies, including the Philippine peso, but we can still see that investors are still cautious and basically buying on dips," another trader said. Total number of transacted dollars contracted by $266.35 million to $553.45 million from Wedneday’s $819.80 million. — Daniel Anne B. Nepomuceno, BusinessWorld