Colombia’s peso rose for the first time in three days on Thursday as a drop in unemployment claims in the U.S. and speculation the Federal Reserve may announce new measures to boost economic growth spurred demand for emerging-market assets.
The currency strengthened 0.4 percent to 1,810.6 per dollar at 10:44 a.m. New York time, from 1,818 yesterday. The peso has strengthened 9 percent over the last three months, making it the second-best performer against the dollar among 25 emerging- market currencies tracked by Bloomberg, behind Iceland’s krona.
The U.S. Labor department reported today that applications for first-time jobless benefits fell last week, easing concern the labor market was deteriorating. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will discuss the outlook for the economy tomorrow at the central bank’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
“Any positive comments about the economy boosts investors’ confidence for risk,” David Aldana, head analyst at Bogota- based brokerage Ultrabursatiles SA, said today in a telephone interview. “Because Colombia is considered an emerging market with risk, this re-establishes confidence in the country and strengthens the peso.”
The yield on the benchmark 11 percent bonds due in 2020 fell one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 7.12 percent, according to Colombia’s stock exchange. The bond’s price rose 0.092 centavo to 126.899 centavos per peso. (Nathan Gil / Bloomberg)