Ringgit eases against greenback, higher against major currencies

 Wednesday's US Consumer Price Index data will be a key indicator for markets assessing the direction of US interest rates, says an analyst.

KUALA LUMPUR:

The ringgit eased against the greenback ahead of key US inflation data but closed higher against most major currencies on Tuesday.

At 6pm, the ringgit eased to 4.0905/4.0940 versus the US dollar from Monday’s close of 4.0885/4.0930.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the upcoming US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data on Wednesday would be an important indicator for markets to gauge the direction of US interest rates.

“As such, monetary tightening may not be the appropriate policy measure to bring (US) inflation down towards the 2% target,” he told Bernama.

At the close, the local currency ended mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

The ringgit strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.5680/2.5703 from 2.5736/2.5766 at Monday’s close and rose against the euro to 4.7188/4.7228 from 4.7247/4.7299, but slipped vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.5238/5.5285 from 5.5170/5.5231 previously.

The local note was also higher against regional currencies.

It climbed against the Singapore dollar to 3.1930/3.1962 from 3.1961/3.2002 on Monday and rose against the Thai baht to 12.3323/12.3481 from 12.3894/12.4079 previously.

The ringgit also appreciated against the Philippine peso to 6.68/6.69 from 6.73/6.74, and versus the Indonesian rupiah it climbed to 229.0/229.3 from 230.2/230.6. - FMT