Peso flat vs. US dollar

The Philippine peso opened the week with a flattish performance on Monday, as concerns on COVID-19 offset gains brought about by the influx of remittances ahead of the holidays.

The local currency closed Monday at P48.085:$1, unchanged from last Friday's finish.

"The peso closed steady vs. the US dollar... amid the expected seasonal surge in OFW remittances and conversion to pesos shortly before Christmas, $900-billion US stimulus deal among US lawmakers, but offset by mutation on the coronavirus and significant differences in Brexit talks," Michael Ricafort, chief economist at the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), said in a mobile message.

Republican US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was reported to have said that a deal has been reached by congressional leaders on a roughly $900-billion COVID-19 relief bill, pushing the S&P 500 to jump at first, but it fell flat as the morning progressed.

Locally, the Philippines on Monday reported 1,721 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 to bring the total tally to 461,505, including 8,957 deaths.

Ricafort said the peso was also stronger on the possible approval of the 2021 national budget before Christmas, as well as the final approval of the one-year extension of the 2020 national budget funds availability, and the progress on the CREATE Bill.

"Peso also slightly stronger after the US FDA approved Moderna's vaccine emergency use utilization and the possible approval of AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine for use in the UK by end-2020," he said. — BM, GMA News