US dollar mixed as Philippine peso hits seven-year high against greenback

Story link: US dollar mixed as Philippine peso hits seven-year high against greenback

Emerging market currencies continued their success in relation to the US dollar on Tuesday as the Philippine peso hit its highest level in almost seven years against the greenback. The gain was believed by most analysts to have been triggered by comments from Philippine president Gloria Arroyo, who said the strength of the currency was keeping inflation low there and that she expected it to continue to strengthen. The peso added 1 percent to 45.835 pesos to the dollar, bringing its gain against the US currency this eyar to 6.9 percent.

The peso isn’t the only emerging market currency doing well in relation to the dollar. The Brazilian real, the Turkish lira, and the Indonesian rupiah are all also near multi-year highs against the US currency. Analysts expressed some surprise that the emerging currency rally has continued this week, as the dollar has strengthened in relation to major currencies.

At midday in New York trade on Tuesday, the dollar was mixed versus major currencies. It was about even against the yen at ¥121.40, while it had added 0.1 percent to $1.3460 versus the euro and dropped 0.1 percent to $1.8730 in relation to sterling.

Meanwhile, the yen turned around its recent decline versus the euro to added 0.2 percent to ¥163.30 against the shared currency.