Ringgit closes lower ahead of US Fed meeting

 

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit closed marginally lower against the US dollar today as the greenback stayed firm ahead of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting scheduled for today and tomorrow.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the US Dollar Index (DXY) gained some ground today to 105.896 points as markets await the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting which will commence later tonight and continue tomorrow.

“Yen versus the greenback is also down 0.34% to 156.88 points.

“The ringgit held up quite well, especially in the morning session where the US dollar to ringgit went to as low as RM4.7665 before settling at RM4.7715 during the afternoon session.

Afzanizam said markets remain jittery over the FOMC meeting with calls for a rate cut appearing to have (faded) given that the US inflation rate has been very sticky, along with hawkish assessments by Fed officials.

This, he said, will continue to support the strong dollar view in the near-term, especially when other major economies are contemplating cutting rates.

At 6pm, the ringgit was lower at 4.7700/4.7750 versus the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.7650/4.7700.

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

It rose versus the Japanese yen to 3.0396/3.0430 from 3.0588/3.0624 at yesterday’s close and slipped vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9835/5.9898 from 5.9710/5.9773 previously.

However, it fell against the euro to 5.1163/5.1217 from 5.1052/5.1106.

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

It depreciated versus the Thai baht to 12.8689/12.8869 from 12.8669/12.8853 yesterday and inched down vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 293.3/293.8 from 293.1/293.5 previously.

However, it strengthened against the Philippine peso to 8.25/8.27 from 8.26/8.27 previously and fell versus the Singapore dollar to 3.5045/3.5084 from 3.5039/3.5081. - FMT