KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 — The ringgit was slightly stronger against the US dollar this morning as concerns over the United States’ (US) debt ceiling took a toll on the greenback, according to an analyst.
At 9am, the local note inched up to 4.5230/5280 versus the greenback from yesterday’s closing rate of 4.5250/5275.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid opined that the US politicians would resolve the deadlock because they need to ensure that the economy would continue to sustain growth.
“It’s just that the political haggling may cause uneasiness in the financial market,” he told Bernama, adding that as such, the ringgit should see some stability for today.
Meanwhile, ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the USD/MYR pair may trade sideways leading up to the release of US Initial Jobless Claims data along with the US Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index.
In the meantime, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It weakened vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.6456/6518 versus 5.6300/6331 at the close on Wednesday and eased against the euro to 4.9034/9088 from 4.9006/9033 yesterday, but rose against the Japanese yen to 3.2907/2945 from 3.3039/3060 previously.
The local note had also traded mostly lower against Asean currencies.
It was flat versus the Indonesian rupiah at 304.1/304.6 from 304.2/304.6 at Wednesday’s close, declined to 3.3696/3736 against the Singapore dollar from 3.3693/3714 yesterday, slipped against the Philippines’ pesos at 8.07/8.09 from 8.05/8.06 and slid vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 13.2136/2343 from 13.2059/2182 previously.
— Bernama
