Ringgit holds strong as markets await Fed chair’s speech

 

KUALA LUMPUR: 

The ringgit remained well-supported against the US dollar, closing the trading week at the 4.37 level.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said market participants are waiting for US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium tonight for further confirmation of a potential rate cut next month.

Afzanizam noted that the ringgit continued to strengthen, adding the local currency was also firmer against other major currencies, including the euro, the British pound, and the Singapore dollar.

He said that markets are gearing up for Powell’s speech tonight.

“This calls for caution, because if the speech turns out to be uneventful, the US dollar could reverse its losses.

It’s a delicate situation since the ringgit has appreciated by 0.17% on a week-on-week basis,

 he told Bernama.

Afzanizam added that the US dollar/ringgit pair broke the previous immediate resistance level of RM4.4005 on Monday, and since then, it has been hovering around the RM4.3700-RM4.3800 range.

The current resistance level is at RM4.3000, and given the positive economic data for Malaysia, the pair might be heading in that direction,

 he said.

At the close, the ringgit was stronger against a basket of major currencies.

At 6pm, the ringgit increased to 4.3720/4.3775 against the US dollar compared to 4.3760/4.3800 at yesterday’s close.

The local currency strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.9914/2.9956 from 3.0051/3.0082 at yesterday’s close, improved vis-a-vis the euro to 4.8604/4.8665 from 4.8744/4.8789 and appreciated against the British pound to 5.7391/5.7463 from 5.7431/5.7483 previously.

At the same time, the local note traded mixed against Asean currencies.

The ringgit gained against the Singapore dollar to 3.3410/3.3454 from 3.3474/3.3507 at yesterday’s close and was firmer against the Philippine peso at 7.75/7.76 from 7.76/7.78.

However, it declined versus the Indonesian rupiah to 282.1/282.7 from 280.4/280.9 yesterday and fell vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 12.7575/12.7810 from 12.7383/12.7552 previously. - FMT