KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — The ringgit bounced back to open marginally higher against the US dollar today, as more investors weighed on a possible interest rate hike by the Federal Open Market Committee next week, a dealer said.
At 9.08am, the local currency improved to 4.4440/4490 versus the greenback from last Friday’s close of 4.4480/4505.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said upward pressure on the local currency eased after a University of Michigan survey revealed that inflation expectations in July had eased following the lower US interest rates at the moment.
“However, I remain cautious on the eurozone and the possibility of a recession, which would in turn support the US dollar globally as it is a safe haven,” he told Bernama.
The ringgit was traded easier against a basket of major currencies.
The local currency eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.1806/1847 from 3.1688/1710 last Friday and weakened versus the Japanese yen to 3.2161/2199 from 3.2048/20699 previously.
It also fell vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.2835/2894 from 5.2629/2658 on Friday and decreased against the euro to 4.4867/4917 from 4.4662/4687.
— Bernama
