KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 — The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar on Wednesday amid investors’ cautious sentiment about the US Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate next month, an analyst said.
At 8am, the ringgit strengthened to 4.1570/1705 versus the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.1605/1660.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US Dollar Index (DXY) slipped 0.04 per cent to 99.550 points, with uncertainties over the US Fed’s interest rate decision next month looming large.
He said the latest data point on the labour market after 41 days of the US government shutdown suggests that a weaker trajectory continues.
"The initial jobless claims (IJC) rose to 232,000 compared with consensus estimates of 223,000 and the prior week's level of 219,000.
"The majority of the US Fed officials appear mixed on what they will decide next when it comes to monetary policy in December," he told Bernama.
Afzanizam said the ringgit has corrected against the US Dollar after reaching the RM4.12-RM4.13 level last week, as it closed weaker against the greenback yesterday.
"We expect the ringgit to stabilise around RM4.14 to RM4.16 today as some technical indicators have gone into the neutral zone," he said.
At the opening, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
It gained versus the yen to 2.6726/6815 from 2.6800/6838 at Tuesday’s close, climbed against the euro to 4.8138/8294 from 4.8216/8280 and was up vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.4652/4830 from 5.4719/4791 previously.
The ringgit traded mixed against Asean currencies.
It rose marginally vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 248.1/249.0 from 248.3/248.7 at yesterday’s close and advanced against the Philippine peso at 7.04/7.07 from 7.05/7.06 previously.
The local note weakened against the Thai baht to 12.8330/8838 from 12.8252/8481 at Tuesday's close and was marginally lower versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1940/2049 from 3.1938/1982 previously.
