KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 — The ringgit ended flat against the US dollar on Monday as investors took the ‘wait-and-see’ approach ahead of the latest economic assessment by the United States’ (US) Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) during its meeting on April 30 and May 1.
At 6pm, the ringgit was unchanged at 4.7650/7700 versus the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.7650/7710.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid reckoned that market participants would maintain a cautious stance ahead of the meeting, as well as the release of key data points on the US labour markets.
“Nevertheless, the ringgit remains fairly stable, in tandem with major currencies that appear to have strengthened against the US dollar,” he told Bernama.
Afzanizam opined there could be a technical rebound as the greenback was seen to be in an overbought position.
At the close, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
The ringgit slid versus the Japanese yen to 3.0588/0624 from 3.0408/0451 at Friday’s close, and slipped vis-à-vis the British pound to 5.9710/9773 from 5.9644/9719 previously.
However, it climbed against the euro to 5.1052/1106 from 5.1157/1221 at the end of last week.
At the same time, the local note was traded mixed against Asean currencies.
It appreciated versus the Thai baht to 12.8669/8853 from 12.8902/9120 last Friday and inched up vis-à-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 293.1/293.5 from 293.9/294.4 previously.
However, it stood unchanged against the Philippines’ peso at 8.26/8.27 from 8.26/8.27 last week and fell versus the Singapore dollar to 3.5039/5081 from 3.5021/5068 previously.
— Bernama
