KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit retreated to trade lower as the US dollar remained stable despite reports of higher inflation expectations going forward ahead of the release of key US data.
At 9am, the ringgit eased versus the greenback to 4.7310/4.7350 from last Monday’s close of 4.7270/4.7320.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the DXY hovered at around 105 points after the Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey showed consumer prices are expected to increase by 3.3% next year after remaining at around 3.0% for the past four months.
“On that note, inflation data will be closely monitored by market participants, in particular in the April Producer Price Index (PPI) report, which will be released tonight,” he added.
He noted that the headline PPI is expected to rise to 2.2% from last month’s 2.1% while the core PPI is anticipated to moderate slightly to 2.3% from 2.4% previously.
“As such, ringgit (is expected) to trade cautiously today as market participants will remain vigilant on the inflation data,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies, except versus the Japanese yen, rising to 3.0267/3.0296 from Monday’s close of 3.0325/3.0359.
It fell vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9407/5.9457 from 5.9215/5.9278 and eased against the euro to 5.1038/5.1081 from 5.0967/5.1020.
The local note also rose against Asean currencies.
The ringgit depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.4951/3.4983 from 3.4919/3.4959 yesterday and weakened against the Thai baht to 12.8521/12.8672 from 12.8388/12.8583.
The local note also lowered vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 294.1/294.5 from 293.9/294.4 and slipped against the Philippine peso at 8.18/8.19 compared with 8.17/8.18 previously. - FMT
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