Ringgit rebounds to end higher vs US dollar

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit rebounded from its losses on Tuesday to close higher against the US dollar on Thursday, amidst positive performance by regional currencies, a dealer said.

At 6 pm, the ringgit was higher at 4.7535/7555 versus the greenback from Tuesday’s close of 4.7700/7750.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit has strengthened against the greenback today as the odds for a United States (US) rate hike seem to be a remote possibility.

“The ringgit gained by 0.39 per cent against the greenback to RM4.7533. Other regional currencies including the rupiah, Thai baht, the Philippines’ peso and the Korean won rose by 0.46, 0.22, 0.55 and 0.83 per cent, respectively.

“The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which was concluded last night, clearly showed that the ‘higher-for-longer’ narratives for the US interest rate are likely to stay in the near future, given the lack in progress in inflation to reach its target level,” he told BK.

At the same time, Mohd Afzanizam said it gave a sense of relief as the US Federal Reserve does not seem to be inclined to increase the fund rate.

“The next hurdle would be on the US Nonfarm Payroll which will be released tomorrow night,” he added.

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

It fell versus the Japanese yen to 3.0614/0629 from 3.0396/0430 at Tuesday’s close, but strengthened vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9490/9515 from 5.9835/9898 earlier and rose against the euro to 5.0877/0898 from 5.1163/1217 previously.

At the same time, the local note was traded mixed against ASEAN currencies.

It appreciated versus the Thai baht to 12.8615/8729 from 12.8689/8869 on Tuesday and went up versus the Singapore dollar to 3.4970/4987 from 3.5045/5084 previously.

However, the ringgit had eased vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 293.6/293.9 from 293.3/293.8 last Tuesday and weakened against the Philippines’ peso to 8.26/8.27 from 8.25/8.27 previously. – BK