Kuala Lumpur: The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar as investors remained cautious ahead of higher-than-expected inflation and global central bank policy updates.
At 8am, the ringgit rose to 4.4320/4480 against the greenback, compared with a closing rate of 4.4420/4465.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia BHD Chief Economist Dr. Mohammad Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the general tone for the US dollar index (DXY) was soft amid initial jobless claims last week, which rose to 223,000 against consensus estimates of 221,000.
“The apparent preference for interest rate cuts by US President Donald Trump during his address at the World Economic Forum (WEF) was surprising.
“This should make the US Federal Reserve (Fed) action more palatable as the US central bank has already implemented monetary easing since September last year. It is a question of timing and degree of rate cuts,” he told Bernama.
Therefore, Mohd Afzanizam believes traders and investors will remain cautious, and he expects the US dollar to trade against the ringgit around RM4.44 to RM4.45 today.
At the opening, the ringgit traded mostly against other major currencies.
It rose to 2.8388/8495 against the Japanese yen from Thursday’s 2.8429/8461, appreciated against the euro to 4.6246/6293 from 4.6246/6293, but slipped against the British pound to 5.4735/4933 from 5.4735/4759. Went.
Similarly, the local note also strengthened against ASEAN currencies.
It rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 272.7/273.1 from 272.1/273.2 yesterday, strengthened against the Philippine peso from 7.55/7.58 to 7.57/7.58, rose against the Thai baht to 13.0250/0835 from 13.0582/0779, and more. and access to more time Gone, more and more. The Singapore dollar rose from 3.2648/2776 to 3.2734/2770.
