KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — The ringgit is expected to trade range-bound next week as investors remained cautious ahead of the United States Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said given the steep appreciation of the ringgit this week, the USD/MYR might take a breather next week and await fresh leads from the FOMC meeting on July 25-26.
“We foresee the ringgit to linger around RM4.50 to RM4.52 next week,” he told Bernama.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the ringgit was higher against the US dollar to 4.5255/5280 from 4.6655/6675 a week earlier.
The local unit was trading mostly lower against major currencies.
It went up against the British pound to 5.9338/9371 from 5.9466/9492 on the previous Friday but depreciated vis-à-vis the Japanese yen to 3.2659/2679 from 3.2601/2617 and declined versus the euro to 5.0799/0827 compared to 5.0765/0787 previously.
The ringgit was traded higher against its Asean peers.
It strengthened against the Indonesian rupiah to 302.5/302.8 from 308.0/308.3 previously and improved vis-à-vis the Philippine peso to 8.31/8.33 versus 8.39/8.39 last Friday.
The local unit climbed against the Singapore dollar to 3.4263/4287 from 3.4511/4528 a week earlier and gained versus the Thai baht to 13.0689/0814 from 13.2471/2588.
— Bernama
