KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar today as the US’s inflation data appear to be supportive of the local note, said an analyst.
At 9am, the ringgit strengthened to 4.6860/4.6930 versus the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.7050/7080.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the ISM Index for the manufacturing sector fell below the 50-point demarcation line for the second consecutive month to 48.7 points in May (April: 49.2).
“The decline led to lower US Treasury yields with the two-year and 10-year note yields at 4.81% and 4.39% respectively.
“With the odds for a rate cut climbing and the markets heading towards the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on June 11-12, perhaps there could be better support for the ringgit today,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded easier against a basket of major currencies.
The local unit fell against the euro to 5.1134/1210 from 5.1035/1068 on Friday’s close, it slid versus the British pound to 6.0037/6.0127 from 5.9876/5.9914, depreciated versus the Japanese yen to 2.9962/3.0008 from 2.9901/2.9922 previously.
The ringgit was mixed against its Asean peers.
It decreased against the Thai baht to 12.8071/12.8322 from 12.7860/12.7994 at Friday’s close and dropped against the Singapore dollar to 3.4817/3.4871 from 3.4803/3.4828.
The local unit appreciated vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 288.6/289.2 from 289.4/289.7 previously and rose versus the Philippine peso to 7.98/8.01 from 8.03/8.05. - FMT
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