KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit was lower against the greenback in early trade on Friday despite the continuing downward bias of the US dollar after discouraging gross domestic (GDP) print ahead of the Fed’s release of the inflation gauge for March, tonight.
At 9am, the ringgit eased slightly to 4.7770/4.7825 against the greenback from Thursday’s close of 4.7745/4.7775.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said US GDP first quarter (1Q2024) came in lower than expected at 1.6% versus a consensus forecast of 2.5%, suggesting that the economy slowed in the first three months of this year.
This led to the US Dollar Index (DXY) decline to 105.598 points.
In Q1 2024, the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index was higher at 3.4% from 1.8% in the prior quarter, indicating sticky inflationary pressures.
“So, there are mixed signals on US rates but the slowing economy was quite evident. On that note, we shall expect the ringgit to be well supported in line with the decline on DXY,” he added.
The ringgit was mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It rose vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9732/5.9800 from 5.9748/5.9786 yesterday but slipped versus the Japanese yen to 3.0693/3.0730 from 3.0677/3.0698 and vis-a-vis the euro to 5.1243/5.1302 from 5.1211/5.1243 previously.
The ringgit traded easier against Asean currencies.
The local currency depreciated versus the Thai baht to 12.9010/12.9208 against 12.8939/12.9087 from yesterday’s close and was lower versus the Philippine peso at 8.27/8.28 from 8.26/8.27.
It declined vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 295.1/295.5 from 294.9/295.2 on Thursday and slid against the Singapore dollar to 3.5141/3.5184 from 3.5120/3.5144.
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