KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar today after the release of the US ISM manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which came in lower than expected at 46 points in June, said an economist.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the ringgit appears to be well supported as the latest data indicated that the Federal Reserve (Fed) may not pursue a hawkish stance moving forward.
However, the Fed may be inclined to maintain a high lending rate for a while in order to clamp down inflation.
“US manufacturing continues to exhibit further weaknesses in June. The index has been below the 50-point demarcation line for eight months in a row since November last year, indicating that manufacturers had become pessimistic in the first half of 2023.
“Such reading suggests that the past monetary tightening had taken a toll on the economic activities with inflation as reflected by the core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) which moderated to 4.6% in May from as high as 5.4% in February 2022,” he told Bernama.
At 9am, the local unit rose marginally to 4.6635/4.6670 versus the greenback compared to 4.6640/4.6690 at yesterday’s close.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
It fell vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0879/5.0917 from 5.0791/5.0845 at Monday’s close, weakened against the Japanese yen to 3.2280/3.2307 from 3.2252/3.2289 and decreased versus the British pound to 5.9212/5.9257 from 5.9088/5.9152 previously.
The local note also traded mostly lower against other Asean currencies.
The ringgit was down against the Singapore dollar to 3.4539/3.4570 versus 3.4482/3.4521 on Monday, slipped against the Thai baht to 13.3098/13.3263 from 13.2357/13.2563 and fell against the Philippine peso to 8.44/8.46 from 8.43/8.44.
It was flat against the Indonesian rupiah at 310.2/310.6 from 310.2/310.7 on Monday. - FMT
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