KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit closed marginally higher against the US dollar today, supported by positive sentiment of a potential interest rate increase by the Bank of Japan in the near term, said an analyst.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said while the Japanese yen was expected to rally next week on a potential Bank of Japan rate increase, which could strengthen Asia foreign exchange (FX) and the ringgit, there are concerns that gains may be limited ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for March 19 and 20.
“Traders eagerly await US Federal Reserve board chair Jerome Powell’s comments on this year’s uptick in inflation, which could influence market sentiment and currency movements,” he noted.
At 6pm, the ringgit traded at 4.6840/4.6880 against the greenback from Wednesday’s close of 4.6845/4.6878.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local currency fell vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.1691/3.1721 from 3.1650/3.1672 on Wednesday, fell against the British pound to 6.0021/6.0072 from 5.9840/5.9878 and weakened versus the euro to 5.1243/5.1287 from 5.1164/5.1197.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mixed against other Asean currencies.
It was lower versus the Thai baht at 13.1470/13.1641 from 13.1053/13.1200 during Wednesday’s close and eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.5160/3.5193 from 3.5121/3.5149 previously.
However, the local currency was flat against the Philippine peso at 8.45/8.46 compared with 8.45/8.47 yesterday and slightly higher against the Indonesian rupiah to 300.5/301.0 from 300.7/301.1 at Wednesday’s close. - FMT
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