Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid highlighted that the key focus has been on Powell’s speech tomorrow, where market participants will look for indications regarding the extent of the anticipated US interest rate cuts, possibly happening next month.
he told Bernama.The September US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes released last night already indicated the members’ willingness to initiate interest rate cuts,
Meanwhile, AmBank Economic Research remained optimistic about the ringgit’s potential to strengthen against the greenback, reflecting Malaysia’s strong economic fundamentals.
It reckoned that the recent levels of 4.30-4.40 could be tested again in the coming weeks leading up to next month’s Fed meeting, where the market widely anticipates the first rate cut.
it said in its second half of 2024 macroeconomic outlook report.Beyond that, we believe the ringgit is unlikely to reverse its recent gains and weaken beyond the 4.60 level, as the rate differentials between Malaysia’s overnight policy rate and the Federal Funds Rate continue to narrow,
At 6pm, the ringgit closed at 4.3760/4.3800 against the US dollar compared to 4.3750/4.3830 at yesterday’s close.
At the close, the ringgit declined against a basket of major currencies.
The local currency slipped against the Japanese yen to 3.0051/3.0082 from 2.9943/3.000, dropped vis-a-vis the euro to 4.8744/4.8789 from 4.8637/4.8726 and depreciated against the British pound to 5.7431/5.7483 from 5.6993/5.7097 previously.
It also traded mostly lower against Asean currencies.
The local currency weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.3474/3507 from 3.3456/3519 at yesterday’s close, was weaker against the Philippine peso at 7.76/7.78 from 7.74/7.76 and fell vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 12.7383/12.7552 from 12.7373/12.7676 previously.
However, it rose versus the Indonesian rupiah to 280.4/280.9 from 282.2/282.9 - FMT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.