KUALA LUMPUR: A rebound on the equity market boosted demand for the ringgit this morning, helping it to start the week stronger against the US dollar.
The local note began the day at 4.4700/4.4750 against the greenback, up from its close at 4.4765/4.4780 last Friday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd head of economics, market analysis and social finance Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said that from a technical standpoint, the ringgit is already in an oversold position against the US dollar, suggesting possible appreciation in the immediate term.
The US non-farm payroll (NFP) data on Friday and Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) monetary policy committee meeting on Thursday are among the key events this week, he told Bernama.
“We believe BNM will keep the overnight policy rates (OPR) unchanged as the central bank may need to observe the effects of last year’s hikes,” he said.
“Perhaps we can have more (clarity) once BNM announces its annual report,” he added.
Afzanizam said that for now, the ringgit would likely continue to move in a tight range of around RM4.47 to RM4.48 against the greenback as concerns over a hawkish US Federal Reserve sentiment would continue to dictate the market direction.
The ringgit traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local unit depreciated against the euro to 4.7507/4.7560 from 4.7487/4.7503 last Friday and slipped against the Japanese yen to 3.2904/3.2943 from 3.2877/3.2890.
It also fell against the British pound to 5.3770/5.3830 from 5.3642/5.3660 previously but gained versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3229/3.3271 from 3.3255/3.3269 last Friday.
Against other Asean currencies, it gained on the Philippine peso at 8.15/8.17 from 8.16/8.17, improved against the Indonesian rupiah at 291.90/292.40 from 292.30/292.60 previously but eased vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 12.9183/12.9406 from 12.8998/12.9105. - FMT
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