The Philippine peso climbed Friday to breach the 55-a-dollar level, while local stocks ended the first week of September in the green despite worries about health of the US economy.
The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index also gained 28.12 points, or 0.41 percent, to close at 6,936.09, while the all-shares index ended at 3,752.86, up by 13.59 points or 0.36 percent. “Private payrolls showed their weakest growth since 2021, while jobless claims fell, raising questions about the Federal Reserve’s next move,” Limlingan said.
Asian markets fluctuated Friday as traders positioned themselves ahead of a highly anticipated US jobs report later in the day and after a mixed bag of economic data on the world’s top economy. A big miss in July’s reading fanned fears of a recession and was a key driver of the rout across markets at the start of last month.
“There has been nothing in the latest batch of US economic data… to materially impact on expectations for all-important employment data or to move the dial on expectations for what the Fed is likely to do on September 18,” said National Australia Bank’s Ray Attrill.Shanghai, Seoul, Mumbai and Wellington fell along with London, Paris and Frankfurt.