Ringgit opens strongly against US$

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened on a strong note against the US dollar as the US interest rate hike cycle is deemed to be ended for the year, easing risk sentiment, said an analyst.

At 9.05 am, the ringgit appreciated to 4.6750/6810 against the greenback from last Friday’s close of 4.7265/7320.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and head of social finance Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US interest rates are near the cycle peak, partly driven by a weaker than expected Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report.

“The NFP, which is the gauge for the total number of jobs creation in the US, rose at a slower pace to 150,000 in October, suggesting the interest rate hike cycle is approaching an end.

“The decline in the quit rate from as high as 3.0 per cent in April 2022 to 2.3 per cent in September 2023 indicated employees’ confidence in the labour market had weakened as they might not be able to secure new jobs if they voluntarily resign,” he told BK.

On that note, he expected the local note to appreciate this week after been in an oversold position for some time and is likely to exhibit a positive trend today, moving past RM4.70 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the local currency was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies, except for the British pound, where it depreciated to 5.7816/7890 from 5.7734/7801 at the close last Friday.

It gained against the Japanese yen to 3.1260/1303 from 3.1445/1484 and strengthened versus the euro to 5.0135/0199 from 5.0318/0377 previously.

The local note was traded higher against other Asean currencies.

It improved against the Singapore dollar to 3.4553/4600 from 3.4713/4756 on Friday and widened vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 297.2/297.7 from 300.5/300.9.

The ringgit also rose against the Thai baht to 13.1861/2097 from 13.2332/2553 previously and was up against the Philippine peso to 8.37/8.39 from 8.42/8.44. – BK