KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 — The ringgit ended higher against the US dollar today as investors remained cautious while analysing a slew of economic data from the United States (US), said an analyst.
At 6pm, the local note rose to 4.6365/6405 against the greenback from 4.6445/6475 at Tuesday’s close.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said investors will also watch out for the US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index on Thursday (August 31) and US Nonfarm Payroll data on Friday (September 1) which could affect the currency markets.
“These data points will be pivotal for currency rates and the US dollar outlook, as the sum of the data points will be the main catalysts for the monetary policy (decision) in September’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting,” he told Bernama.
At the close, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local note slipped versus the euro to 5.0482/0526 from 5.0221/0253 at Tuesday’s close and eased against the British pound to 5.8684/8735 from 5.8590/8628, but appreciated vis-à-vis the Japanese yen to 3.1679/1708 from 3.1688/1711 yesterday.
At the same time, the ringgit was traded higher against other Asean currencies.
It was marginally higher against the Singapore dollar to 3.4278/4311 from 3.4297/4322 at Tuesday’s close and appreciated vis-à-vis the Thai baht to 13.2094/2268 from 13.2171/2324 previously.
The local currency also inched up against the Indonesian rupiah to 304.1/304.6 from 304.3/304.7 yesterday and firmed against the Philippines’ peso at 8.17/8.18 from 8.18/8.19 previously.
— Bernama
