KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 — The ringgit rose against the US dollar at the opening today, as the US Dollar Index (DXY) fell 0.3 per cent to 95.910 points, with risk-on mode becoming more prevalent, an analyst said.
At 9am, the local note widened 115 basis points (bps) to 4.1685/1725 versus the greenback from 4.1800/1805 at Wednesday’s close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed at an all-time high of 36,488 points while the 10-year United States Treasury yields were almost seven basis points higher to close at 1.55 per cent last night.
“As such, the ringgit is expected to be on a firmer footing today,” he said.
Besides, he believes the receding fears over the Omicron variant and rising hope of sustainable reopening of the economy may have pinned one’s expectation of a better 2022 outlook.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of other major currencies except for the Japanese yen, for which it appreciated to 3.6248/6286 from 3.6348/6355 at Wednesday’s close.
The local unit fell versus the euro to 4.7317/7362 from 4.7150/7156, depreciated against the British pound to 5.6262/6316 from 5.6062/6069, and narrowed vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.0862/0896 from 3.0856/0864 previously.
— Bernama
