Peso rises to new five-month high as tariff jitters drag dollar

THE PESO appreciated to a new five-month high against the dollar on Wednesday as renewed tariff uncertainty dragged the dollar.

The local unit surged by 24.5 centavos to close at P57.51 against the greenback from its P57.755 finish on Tuesday, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed.

This was the peso’s best close in 22 weeks or since it finished at P57.461 on Sept. 24, 2025.

The currency opened Wednesday’s trading session slightly weaker at P57.80 per dollar, which was already its worst showing for the day. Its intraday high was at P57.43 versus the greenback.

Dollars traded increased to $1.768 billion from $1.358 billion on Tuesday.

“The dollar-peso closed lower on broad dollar weakness following President Trump’s state of the nation speech where he reiterated he will reimpose tariffs via other means following the Supreme Court ruling,” a trader said by phone.

On Wednesday, the US dollar index was down 0.1% at 97.78, Reuters reported.

US President Donald J. Trump said little to allay concerns about the future of his tariffs and global trade policy in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.

The Trump administration is working to increase the rate on Mr. Trump’s new, temporary global tariff to 15% from the 10% rate published by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, a White House official said on Tuesday.

The official said Mr. Trump has had “no change of heart” on his desire for a 15% tariff rate, which he had announced on Saturday after issuing a formal order on Friday for a 10% rate on the new duties that will last 150 days. The temporary tariff imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 are meant to replace Mr. Trump’s global emergency tariffs struck down by the US Supreme Court on Friday.

The White House official said there was no further detail on the timing of the tariff rate increase. CBP can only collect tariffs based on information published in formal presidential executive orders or proclamations.

The peso was also supported by market optimism on the Philippines’ re-inclusion in JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets (GBI-EM), Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

National Treasurer Sharon P. Almanza said last week she is positive about the country’s re-inclusion in the index amid government efforts to improve bond pricing standards and progress in addressing liquidity and taxation issues.

JPMorgan’s GBI-EM tracks the performance of sovereign and quasi-sovereign bonds issued by emerging market countries. The country’s inclusion will need to be approved by a certain percentage of investors reviewing the index.

In September last year, JPMorgan tagged Philippine peso-denominated government bonds (RPGB) as “Index Watch Positive,” which is the final review phase for the’ country’s potential inclusion in the GBI-EM.

The global bank earlier said it will conduct its Index Watch assessment and provide updates within this quarter.

The Philippines’ global peso notes were removed from the GBI-EM in January 2024 due to illiquidity. For potential inclusion in the index are RPGBs issued from 2023 with tenors up to 20 years.

For Thursday, the trader sees the peso moving between P57.30 and P57.60 versus the dollar, while Mr. Ricafort expects it to range from P57.40 to P57.60. — Aaron Michael C. Sy with Reuters