Positive outlook pushes ringgit up against the US dollar

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Positive risk sentiments ahead of the tabling of Budget 2023 on Friday gave the ringgit a small boost this morning.

At 9am, the local currency rose marginally to 4.6355/4.6400 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.6420/4.6450.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes told Bernama the ringgit should rebound in the early session on broader US dollar weakness, on the back of fiscal concerns.

Meanwhile, ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said investors were now waiting for the release of the ADP non-farm employment data, which would provide more insight into the health of the US economy.

However, he said, the US dollar’s performance could be influenced by the EU’s producer price index (PPI) data which hit a fresh record high of 43.3% year-on-year in August 2022, compared to 38% in July.

“The inflation scenario in Europe is exacerbated by the energy crisis caused by Russia’s conflict with Ukraine and has an effect on the entire market, with many investors preferring to sell risky assets and buy safe-haven assets,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of major currencies.

The local note slipped against the British pound to 5.3039/5.3091 from 5.2752/5.2786 at yesterday’s close and eased slightly versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2555/3.2591 from 3.2462/3.2487 yesterday.

It had also depreciated against the Japanese yen at 3.2222/3.2256 from yesterday’s closing of 3.2067/3.2090 and slid vis-a-vis the euro to 4.6248/4.6293 from 4.5863/4.5893 previously. - FMT