The US Federal Open Market Committee minutes weighed on the dollar, helping the ringgit hold its ground, says an analyst.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the minutes weighed on the greenback amid expectations that the US central bank may keep interest rates unchanged for the remainder of the year, helping the local currency hold its ground.
Currently, the US federal fund rates (FFR) stood at between 3.50% and 3.75%.
Besides, he said the latest decision by Bank Negara Malaysia’s monetary policy committee (MPC) to keep the overnight policy rate (OPR) steady at 2.75% seems to be ringgit-positive.
“The accompanying statement suggests that the MPC members are keen to keep the OPR steady at 2.75% throughout the year with the gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection of between 4% and 5% for 2026 being highly attainable.
“This also reinforced the view that the OPR will remain stable for 2026,” Afzanizam told Bernama.
At 6pm, the ringgit was traded at 4.0750/4.0795 against the US dollar from 4.0750/4.0800 at Wednesday’s close.
At the close, the ringgit traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
It fell against the British pound to 5.4654/5.4714 from 5.4369/5.4435 at Wednesday’s close, weakened against the euro to 4.6581/4.6633 from 4.6471/4.6528 and slid against the Japanese yen to 2.5091/2.5120 from 2.5083/2.5114 yesterday.
Against regional currencies, the local currency traded mixed.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.1518/3.1558 from 3.1487/3.1528 at Wednesday’s close and slipped against the Thai baht to 12.1886/12.2064 from 12.1685/12.1882 previously.
The ringgit, however, appreciated against the Indonesian rupiah to 224.8/225.1 from 226.2/226.5 and edged up against the Philippine peso to 6.61/6.62 from 6.62/6.64 at Wednesday’s close. - FMT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.