Ringgit closes flat as investors adopt ‘wait-and-see’ approach

 

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit ended flat against the US dollar today as investors took a ‘wait-and-see’ approach ahead of the latest economic assessment by the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on April 30 and May 1, said an analyst.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid reckoned that market participants would maintain a cautious stance ahead of the meeting, as well as the release of key data points on the US labour markets.

“Nevertheless, the ringgit remains fairly stable, in tandem with major currencies that appear to have strengthened against the US dollar,” he told Bernama.

He opined that there could be a technical rebound as the greenback was seen to be in an overbought position.

At 6pm, the ringgit was unchanged at 4.7650/4.7700 versus the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.7650/4.7710.

At the close, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

The ringgit slid versus the Japanese yen to 3.0588/3.0624 from 3.0408/3.0451 at Friday’s close and slipped vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9710/5.9773 from 5.9644/5.9719 previously.

However, it climbed against the euro to 5.1052/5.1106 from 5.1157/5.1221 at the end of last week.

At the same time, the local currency was traded mixed against Asean currencies.

It appreciated versus the Thai baht to 12.8669/12.8853 from 12.8902/12.9120 last Friday and inched up vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 293.1/293.5 from 293.9/294.4 previously.

However, it stood unchanged against the Philippine peso at 8.26/8.27 from 8.26/8.27 last week and fell versus the Singapore dollar to 3.5039/3.5081 from 3.5021/3.5068 previously. - FMT