Peso slides to all-time low of 62.40 a dollar

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The Philippine peso plunged to a new all-time low of 62.40 against the US dollar Tuesday, losing 13.5 centavos from its previous finish of 62.265 on Friday, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed.

The local currency opened at 62.25 against the greenback, before hitting and closing at its new intraday low of 62.40 per dollar.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort linked the peso depreciation to the latest hawkish signals of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh during the Jackson Hole Symposium on Aug. 28.

“[This] resulted in a higher gauge of US dollar [versus] major global currencies to among 2-week highs or since August 18, 2026 and up from near 3-month lows,” Ricafort said in a Viber message.

He said a higher 10-year US Treasury yield partly provided support to the greenback.

“The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield went up slightly recently to 4.78 percent, among the highest in more than 1.5 years or since January 15, 2026 and also among 19-year highs or since 2007, thereby partly supporting the US dollar,” he said.

Philippine stocks, however, rebounded strongly, with the benchmark index rising more than 2 percent as investors returned to select blue-chip stocks.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) surged 137.56 points, or 2.31 percent, to close at 6,093.89. The broader all shares index gained 44.20 points, or 1.33 percent, to 3,363.19.

AB Capital Securities said the PSEi quickly reclaimed the 6,000 level after dropping below the threshold last week. The rebound was driven largely by International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), which jumped 7 percent.

BDO Unibank Inc. and Bank of the Philippine Islands also supported the index, rising 5 percent and 6 percent, respectively, following a sell-off last week during an MSCI rebalancing.

Sectoral indices ended mixed. Services jumped 5.45 percent, while financials climbed 3.27 percent and holding firms added 0.26 percent. Property slipped 0.08 percent, industrials declined 1.10 percent, and mining and oil fell 1.20 percent.

DigiPlus Interactive Corp. was the day’s top index gainer, jumping 7.91 percent to P10.78, while JG Summit Holdings Inc. trailed the index, falling 5.88 percent to P20.

Market breadth was positive, with 106 advancers against 88 decliners, while 64 stocks closed unchanged.

Trading activity picked up as total value turnover reached P8.24 billion. Foreign investors remained net sellers, with net outflows totaling P10 million. — Thony Rose Lesaca & Jenniffer B. Austria