KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — The ringgit rebounded from yesterday’s losses to close higher against the US dollar on Thursday amid positive performance by regional currencies.
At 6pm, the ringgit was higher at 4.7535/7555 versus the greenback from Tuesday’s close of 4.7700/7750.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit has strengthened against the greenback today as the odds of a United States (US) rate hike seem remote.
“The ringgit gained by 0.39 per cent against the greenback to RM4.7533. Other regional currencies including the rupiah, Thai baht, the Philippines’ peso, and the Korean won rose by 0.46, 0.22, 0.55 and 0.83 per cent, respectively.
“The US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which concluded last night, clearly showed that the ‘higher-for-longer’ narratives for the US interest rate are likely to stay in the near future, given the lack of progress in inflation reaching its target level,” he told Bernama.
Simultaneously, Afzanizam said it gave a sense of relief as the US Federal Reserve does not seem to be inclined to increase the fund rate.
“The next hurdle would be on the US Nonfarm Payroll which will be released tomorrow night,” he added.
At the close, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It fell versus the Japanese yen to 3.0614/0629 from 3.0396/0430 at Tuesday’s close but strengthened vis-à-vis the British pound to 5.9490/9515 from 5.9835/9898 earlier and rose against the euro to 5.0877/0898 from 5.1163/1217 previously.
At the same time, the local note was traded mixed against Asean currencies.
On Tuesday, it appreciated against the Thai baht to 12.8615/8729 from 12.8689/8869 and went up against the Singapore dollar to 3.4970/4987 from 3.5045/5084 previously.
However, the ringgit had eased vis-à-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 293.6/293.9 from 293.3/293.8 last Tuesday and weakened against the Philippines’ peso to 8.26/8.27 from 8.25/8.27 previously.
— Bernama
