The peso closed at a new low of P50.40 against the US dollar on Friday as it reflected weakness of Asian currencies against the greenback.

The peso finished nine centavos weaker from Thursday. It opened at P50.34.

In its report, BDO said “expectations of a March rate hike by the US Fed has gained momentum in the recent days.””This caused the dollar to strengthen against the mahor and regional currencies,” it added.

Volume at the Philippine Dealing System rose to $482.1 million from Thursday’s $409 million.

Stocks rallied after being down for most of the session with the Philippine Stock Exchange index up 12.18 points to 7,247.12.

The broader market was down with 92 decliners and 81 advancers. Sixty-one issues were unchanged.

Volume reached 1.49 billion shares worth P5.47 billion down from Thursday’s P4.3 billion shares valued at P5.65 billion.

Foreign selling reached P3.38 billion while foreign buying hit P3.04 billion. DMS