KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — The ringgit continued its downtrend to end lower against the US dollar today for the fifth consecutive day on cautious sentiment as the Federal Reserve is likely to raise the Fed Fund Rate by 25 basis points this week, said an analyst.
At 6pm, the local note eased to 4.5640/5690 against the greenback compared with 4.5600/5655 at Friday’s close.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting will be held from July 25 to July 26.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the Bank of Japan (BOJ) on the other hand is expected to have its ultra accommodative monetary stance with the yield curve control likely to remain unchanged.
“That would continue to make the US dollar stand out against the local note,” he told Bernama.
Moreover, he said the latest Malaysian Consumer Price Index print of 2.4 per cent indicates there was no hurry for Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to raise the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) target as the real rate of interest has been positive for two consecutive months.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies at today’s close.
It strengthened vis-à-vis the euro to 5.0578/0634 from 5.0735/0796 at Friday’s close, rose against the British pound to 5.8556/8620 from 5.8669/8740 but slipped versus the Japanese yen to 3.2307/2345 from 3.2185/2229 previously.
However, the local note traded mostly lower against other Asean currencies.
The ringgit slid vis-à-vis the Philippine peso to 8.35/8.37 from 8.33/8.34 on Friday, dropped against the Indonesian rupiah to 303.6/304.2 from 303.4/303.9 and decreased against the Thai baht to 13.2417/2623 from 13.2327/2541, but appreciated versus the Singapore dollar to 3.4287/4328 from 3.4304/4350 previously.
— Bernama
