Kuala Lumpur: The ringgit opened higher and maintained its uptrend against the US dollar in the early session on Wednesday, despite the greenback maintaining its appeal as a safe-haven currency following a 0.23 per cent gain in the US Dollar Index (DXY) to 99.237 points.
At 8.05 am, the local currency was higher at 4.3190/3330 versus the greenback compared with Tuesday’s close of 4.3245/3300.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said there seems some hope that the US economy could weather the tariff storm better.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});“The US Federal Reserve (Fed) may step up its efforts to avoid recession by cutting interest rates,” he told Bernama.
He said that some profit-taking activities could take place in light of the ringgit’s recent appreciation.
“On that note, the dollar-ringgit rate can range between RM4.32 to RM4.34 today,” he added.
In the early session, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It fell versus the Japanese yen to 3.0373/0473 from 3.0301/0341 at yesterday’s close and weakened vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.7931/8119 from 5.7927/8000 previously. However, it gained against the euro to 4.9202/9362 from 4.9217/9280.
Meanwhile, the ringgit performed better against its ASEAN peers.
It was slightly higher versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3025/3137 from 3.3027/3074 at Tuesday’s close and strengthened against the Thai baht to 12.9033/9587 from 12.9399/9629.
The local note also gained vis-a-vis the Philippine peso to 7.69/7.72 from 7.70/7.72 on Tuesday and rose slightly against the Indonesian rupiah to 257.6/258.6 from 257.9/258.4.