Ringgit opens marginally higher against US$

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened marginally higher against the US dollar today despite higher inflation data in the United States (US), said an analyst.

At 9 am, the ringgit was traded at 4.7750/7805 against the greenback compared with last Friday’s close of 4.7765/7820.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit is however expected to trade softer today as data points from the US continue to exhibit resilient consumption with the Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) published by the University of Michigan rising 79.6 points in February from 79.0 points in the prior month.

Meanwhile, China’s central bank has refrained from cutting its Medium-term Lending Facility (MLF) which currently stands at 2.50 per cent. The benchmark rate was last reduced in August last year.

Mohd Afzanizam said such a decision indicates the indecisiveness of the People’s Bank of China to provide additional monetary stimulus despite the economy experiencing deflationary pressures.

“On that note, the ringgit-US dollar is expected to linger around RM4.76 to RM4.77 today,” he told BK.

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

It fell vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.1846/1885 from 3.1780/1818 at Friday’s close, slipped against the British pound to 6.0265/0335 from 6.0117/0186 and declined versus the euro to 5.1508/1567 from 5.1419/1478 previously.

The ringgit was traded mostly lower against other Asean currencies.

It weakened slightly versus the Thai baht to 13.2831/3054 compared with 13.2559/2763 at Friday’s close and slid versus the Singapore dollar to 3.5507/5551 compared with 3.5479/5522.

The local note was marginally lower against the Philippine peso at 8.54/8.56 from 8.53/8.55 on Friday and was easier vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah at 305.6/306.0 from 305.7/306.0 previously. – BK