KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit continued its positive momentum against the US dollar at the close today as elevated crude oil prices combined with a possible dovish stance by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) on its monetary policy provided support to the ringgit, said an economist.
At 6pm, the local currency rose marginally to 4.3950/4.4010 versus the US dollar from Wednesday’s closing rate of 4.3970/4.4020.
Critical numbers on the US non-farm payrolls (NFP) which are likely to come in lower at 240,000 in March from an estimated 311,000 in February would alter the market views on the path of interest rate hikes, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Afzanizam Abdul Rashid told Bernama.
“The USD/MYR continued to hover around RM4.40 during the day while the ringgit was stronger against the euro despite the better-than-expected Germany’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) which grew 0.6% year on year in February against consensus estimates of -2.7%.
“Similarly, the ringgit appreciated against the Singapore dollar by 0.2%,” he added.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It rose vis-a-vis the euro to 4.7936/4.8002 from 4.8156/4.8211 at Wednesday’s close and went up versus the British pound to 5.4753/5.4828 from 5.4879/5.4941 previously, but depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.3465/3.3514 compared with 3.3399/3.3440 at yesterday’s close.
At the same time, the ringgit also traded mostly higher against Asean currencies.
It increased slightly versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3065/3.3113 from 3.3165/3.3205 at Wednesday’s close, gained against the Thai baht to 12.8893/12.9145 from 12.9782/12.9991 and strengthened against the Philippine peso at 8.07/8.09 from 8.08/8.09 previously.
However, the local currency was marginally lower vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah at 294.70/295.20 from 294.40/294.90. - FMT
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