KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit ended lower against the US dollar today on lack of buying demand, amid cautious trading ahead of the release of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes this week, said an economist.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said sentiments are cautious ahead of the release of the FOMC meeting minutes on Feb 21.
He noted that the ringgit was generally weaker against the US dollar today (-0.11%) along with the Chinese renminbi (-0.06%), Indonesian rupiah (-0.06%), Taiwanese dollar (-0.13%) and the Philippine peso (-0.18%).
“Given that the US Federal Reserve is unlikely to reverse its course on monetary policy, the US dollar should be well supported in the near- term.
“This is especially true when the odds for a US rate cut in the March meeting has been greatly reduced from 81.5% in early January 2024 to 11.6% at present,” he told Bernama.
Afzanizam said he expects the ringgit to remain weak in the near-term.
At 6pm, the ringgit depreciated to 4.7850/4.7890 against the greenback compared to last Friday’s close of 4.7765/4.7820.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded weaker against a basket of major currencies.
It fell vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.1913/3.1942 from 3.1780/3.1818 at Friday’s close.
The ringgit slipped against the British pound to 6.0358/6.0408 from 6.0117/6.0186 and declined versus the euro to 5.1558/5.1601 from 5.1419/5.1478 previously.
Similarly, the ringgit was traded mostly easier against other Asean currencies.
It weakened against the Thai baht to 13.2806/13.2976 compared with 13.2559/13.2763 at Friday’s close.
The local currency slid versus the Singapore dollar to 3.5555/3.5587 compared with 3.5479/3.5522 and was easier against the Indonesian rupiah at 306/306.5 from 305.7/306 previously.
The local currency was however almost flat against the Philippine peso at 8.53/8.54 from 8.53/8.55 last Friday. - FMT
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