The peso closed barely changed Monday, as investors took on a wait-and-see attitude ahead of the US debt ceiling talks between Democrats and Republicans.
A dollar fetched P43.15 at the close of trading, just a centavo and a half more than the P43.135 it got last Friday. Trading volume totaled $534 million compared with $818.3 million Friday.
“It was a very lethargic trading with low volume,” a trader at a local bank said.
All eyes are on the negotiations in the US Senate on bringing the fiscal crisis to an end, which as of Sunday in Washington showed little signs of progress, Reuters reported.
Failure to break the stalemate before Oct. 17, Thursday, would leave the world's biggest economy unable to pay its bills in the coming weeks.
In a separate interview, a second trader said investors held on to their positions in the face of the uncertainty over what would happened to markets should the US default on its obligations.
“Expectations of the US defaulting is increasing, but a lot of investors are still holding on to dollars – because that's supposedly the safe haven. We're slowly seeing lines get blurred,” she said.
Philippine financial markets will be closed Tuesday in observance of Eidul Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice of Muslims. – VS, GMA News
source: gmanetwork.com
