KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 — The ringgit continued its downtrend against the greenback before the release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes tonight.
At 6pm, the ringgit depreciated to 4.6300/6355 versus the US dollar from Tuesday’s close of 4.6035/6080.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the local currency was generally weaker against the US dollar at RM4.6357, in line with the higher US Dollar Index (DXY) of 102.219 points (+0.02 per cent).
The ringgit seems to be experiencing a technical correction after the currency had languished within the overbought region against the US dollar.
“At the moment, the support and resistant levels are located at RM4.5778 and RM4.6611, respectively.
“Tonight’s FOMC minutes should provide further clarity on the US Federal Reserve’s intention to ease its monetary stance this year,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It strengthened vis-à-vis the British pound to 5.8463/8532 from 5.8524/8582 on Tuesday and was slightly higher versus the euro to 5.0634/0694 from 5.0685/0734.
However, the ringgit depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.2462/2502 from 3.2317/2552 yesterday.
The ringgit was traded mostly lower against Asean currencies.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.4885/4932 from 3.4793/4830 at yesterday’s close and depreciated vis-à-vis the Philippine peso to 8.33/8.34 from 8.27/8.28.
The local currency also slipped versus the Indonesian rupiah to 299.0/299.5 from 297.5/298.0 and was almost flat against the Thai baht at 13.4824/5063 from 13.4838/5033.
— Bernama
