Ringgit ends easier against US dollar

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit ended lower against the US dollar on Monday on lack of buying demand, amid cautious trading ahead of the release of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes this week, said an economist.

At 6 pm, the ringgit depreciated to 4.7850/7890 against the greenback compared to last Friday’s close of 4.7765/7820.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said sentiments are cautious ahead of the release of the FOMC meeting minutes on Feb 21.

He noted that the ringgit was generally weaker against the US dollar today (-0.11 per cent) along with the Chinese renminbi (-0.06 per cent), Indonesian rupiah (-0.06 per cent), Taiwanese dollar (-0.13 per cent) and the Philippine peso (-0.18 per cent).

“Given that the US Federal Reserve is unlikely to reverse its course on monetary policy, the US dollar should be well supported in the near term.

“This is especially true when the odds for a US rate cut in March meeting has been greatly reduced from 81.5 per cent in early January 2024 to 11.6 per cent at present,” he told BK.

Mohd Afzanizam said he expects the ringgit to remain weak in the near term.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded weaker against a basket of major currencies.

It fell vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.1913/1942 from 3.1780/1818 at Friday’s close, slipped against the British pound to 6.0358/0408 from 6.0117/0186, and declined versus the euro to 5.1558/1601 from 5.1419/1478 previously.

Similarly, the ringgit was traded mostly easier against other Asean currencies.

It weakened versus the Thai baht to 13.2806/2976 compared with 13.2559/2763 at Friday’s close, slid versus the Singapore dollar to 3.5555/5587 compared with 3.5479/5522 and was easier against the Indonesian rupiah at 306.0/306.5 from 305.7/306.0 previously.

The local note was however almost flat against the Philippine peso at 8.53/8.54 from 8.53/8.55 last Friday. – BK