The PESO may move in a limited range until early 2026 amid a lack of catalysts, with activity likely to be driven by positioning and institutions willing to take advantage of bargain hunters to satisfy their dollar requirements.
On December 29, the last trading day for 2025, the local unit closed at P58.79 against the greenback, down eight centavos from its close of P58.71 on December 26, 2025.
Year to date, the peso declined 94.5 centavos or 1.61% from its P57.845 at end-2024.
Philippine financial markets were closed on December 30, December 31, and January 1 for the Rizal Day and New Year holidays.
The peso will likely move higher when the market reopens on Friday as players look for new leads, a trader said in a text message.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation Chief Economist Michael L. “There may still be some accumulation despite remittances from OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) and conversion into pesos to finance Yuletide- and New Year-related holiday spending, although this will be offset by some bargaining by some importers and others with US dollar requirements,” Ricafort said in a Viber message. He expects the peso to remain between P58.65 and P58.95 per dollar on Friday.
Meanwhile, the US dollar advanced on Wednesday after stronger-than-expected labor market gains and erased earlier losses, Reuters reported.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.27% to 98.50.
The dollar was down more than 9% for the year 2025. , AMCS