KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 — The ringgit opened marginally lower against the US dollar today as investors remain cautious while waiting for forward guidance amid global market volatility, said an analyst.
At 9am, the ringgit eased to 4.6950/7025 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.6920/6965.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the local unit is expected to trade in a tight range today as investors stand ready to digest global banks’ policy announcements.
“The focus today would be on the Bank of Japan (BoJ) policy meeting as currency traders are seeking clues on possible reversibility of its ultra-loose monetary policy.
“Most economists are expecting the BoJ to maintain its benchmark interest rate at -0.1 per cent in this meeting,” he told Bernama.
“However, given the latest guidance by the US Federal Reserve, the outlook for rate cut remains fairly intact. As such, we expect ringgit versus the US dollar to remain in a narrow range today,” he added.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly lower versus a basket of major currencies.
It appreciated against the British pound to 5.9411/9505 from 5.9434/9491 at Monday’s close, weakened vis-a-vis the euro to 5.1269/1351 from 5.1232/1281 yesterday, and declined against the Japanese yen at 3.2938/2993 from 3.2926/2960 previously.
Similarly, the local note was traded easier against a few Asean currencies.
It decreased against the Philippine peso to 8.41/8.43 from Monday’s closing rate of 8.40/8.41 and went down against the Indonesian rupiah to 302.6/303.3 from 302.4/302.9.
The ringgit was almost flat versus the Singapore dollar at 3.5248/5307 from 3.5249/5285 yesterday and fell against the Thai baht to 13.4335/4623 from 13.4042/4228 previously.
— Bernama
