KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — The ringgit closed marginally higher against the US dollar today despite the strength in the greenback following better-than-expected US private employment reports which came in higher at 568,000 jobs in September, an analyst said.
At 6pm, the local note rose to 4.1820/1835 versus the greenback from Wednesday’s closing of 4.1825/1845.
Furthermore, Bank Islam chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the debt ceiling commotion in the US also seems to be taking a breather as both political parties may reach some form of agreement to extend the dateline.
According to a news report, private jobs rose by 568,000 in September, better than the Dow Jones forecast from economists of 425,000, ahead of data for August that showed 340,000 jobs added.
“Consequently, the US dollar index (DXY) continues to hover (above) the 94 mark,” Mohd Afzanizam told Bernama today.
He also said all eyes would now be on the non-farm payrolls report for September, in which higher numbers would mean the US Federal Reserve is on track to reduce their asset purchases programme in November, paving the way for an interest rate hike in 2022.
“As such, the ringgit should move in a tight range in the near term,” he said.
At the close, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
It dipped versus the Japanese yen to 3.7517/7534 from 3.7501/7522 at Wednesday’s close and eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.0784/0797 compared with 3.0702/0719.
The local note also fell vis-a-vis the euro to 4.8344/8361 from 4.8270/8293 and depreciated versus the British pound to 5.6833/6854 from 5.6669/6696 yesterday.
— Bernama
