Ringgit moves in tight range but closes marginally higher ahead Fed meeting outcome

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit traded in a tight range today but closed marginally higher as investors awaited interest rate outlook projections from the current US Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting, which concludes later tonight.

At 6 pm, the ringgit gained marginally to 4.7335/7400 against the greenback from Tuesday’s close of 4.7350/7390.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said market players stayed in a wait-and-see mode ahead of the latest interest rate guidance by the Fed.

Back home, the sentiment was lifted by the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) report released today.

“BNM also indicates that the way forward is to enact economic reforms through implementing the series of policies such as the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) and the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030) and labour market reforms, as well as strengthening social protection and fiscal consolidation,” Afzanizam told BK, referring to the central bank report.

BNM governor Datuk Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour has said that the move to repatriate foreign earnings by government-linked companies (GLCs) and government-linked investment companies (GLICs) in response to its call to relieve pressure on the ringgit has paid off, leading to an immediate impact and strengthening demand for the ringgit in February.

Additionally, Deputy Governor Datuk Marzunisham Omar has stressed that Malaysia will not face a balance of payments crisis as the country has consistently registered current account surpluses.

At the close, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

It increased vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.1207/1252 from 3.1420/1451 on Tuesday and rose versus the euro to 5.1306/1377 from 5.1318/1361 previously.

However, it slid against the British pound to 6.0082/0165 from 5.9992/6.0043.

The ringgit also traded higher against other Asean currencies.

It was better versus the Thai baht at 13.0821/1048 from 13.1171/1354 at Tuesday’s close, edged up against the Singapore dollar to 3.5204/5255 from 3.5249/5281 and appreciated vis-a-vis the Philippine peso to 8.43/8.45 compared with 8.46/8.48 previously.

The local note was little changed against the Indonesian rupiah at 301.0/301.5 from 301.2/301.6. – BK