Peso rebounds on weak US jobs report

The Philippine peso recovered against the dollar on Friday as the weaker jobs data in the US weighed on the greenback.

The local currency gained 5 centavos to close at P52.71:$1 from 52.76 on Thursday.

“The peso recovered today as the broad strength of the dollar falters on weak US new jobs data,”  Land Bank of the Philippines market economist Guian Angelo Dumalagan said.

Payrolls data processing firm Automatic Data Processing Inc. showed that the US private sector added 179,000 new jobs in November.

“It was softer than previous reading of 225,000 and weaker than market expectations of 195,009,” Dumalagan said.

Also adding pressure on the US dollar is the heightening US-China trade tensions following the arrest of a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei.

The arrest of a top Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou has raised doubts over the recent trade truce agreed by US President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. — Ted Cordero/RSJ, GMA News