KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 — The ringgit closed higher against the US dollar today, supported by rising oil prices and weaker United States (US) economic data, an economist said.
At 6pm, the local note rose to 4.6480/6525 against the greenback compared to 4.6640/6690 at Monday’s close.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said lower-than-expected US Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) which came in at 46.0 points in June helped lift up the ringgit today.
In the meantime, he said the next hurdle for the ringgit would be Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on the overnight policy rate (OPR) on Thursday. The central bank is expected to maintain the OPR at 3.0 per cent.
“From the technical analysis standpoint, the ringgit has been oversold for quite a while. At best, we think the ringgit should exhibit some stability at around RM4.65 with an immediate support level of RM4.62,” Mohd Afzanizam told Bernama.
Meanwhile, at the time of writing, benchmark Brent crude oil price rose 1.23 per cent to US$75.57 per barrel.
At the close, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
It strengthened vis-à-vis the euro to 5.0654/0703 from 5.0791/0845 at Monday’s close, rose against the Japanese yen to 3.2184/2217 from 3.2252/2289 and increased versus the British pound to 5.9016/9073 from 5.9088/9152 previously.
The local note also traded mostly higher against other Asean currencies.
The ringgit was up against the Singapore dollar to 3.4458/4494 versus 3.4482/4521 on Monday and rose against the Philippine peso to 8.41/8.42 from 8.43/8.44.
It went up against the Indonesian rupiah at 309.9/310.4 from 310.2/310.7 yesterday, but slipped against the Thai baht to 13.3230/3420 from 13.2357/2563 previously.
— Bernama
