kuala lumpur: The Ringitt has risen against the US dollar in early trade as investors remained cautious about President Donald Trump’s administration, particularly policy on tariffs and geopolitics, analysts said.
At 8am, the ringgits were strengthened to 4.4040/4310 from 4.4270/4320 at the end of Thursday.
Bank Muamarat Malaysia BHD Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said greenback was weakened amid the fall in the US Treasury yields and stock prices as investors assessed corporate earnings.
“The latest revenue report from Walmart, a leading US retailer, highlights that consumer behavior, global economic situation and geopolitics uncertainty are expected to affect financial performance this year. I did,” he told Bernama today.
Mohd Afzanizam noted that US retail sales fell 0.9% a month in January, strengthening concerns about economic uncertainty.
Read again: Ringits rise as the market digests feedings
He added that the US dollar index is 106.372 points after previously surpassing 107.
“A weaker economic outlook should be followed by forecasts of financial easing by the central bank.
“But this kind of argument is at odds with signs from the US Federal Reserve, as they are not in a hurry to lower the rate of federal funds,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Ringgits traded mostly high on major currencies.
It was strengthened to 2.9435/9619 against the Japanese yen from 2.9454/9490, and was won to 5.5794/6136 against the British pound from 5.5833/5896. However, I slid to 4.6238/6521 against the euro from 4.6196/6248.
Read again: Ringgits open slightly higher than the US dollar
The ringgits also rose against most ASEAN currencies.
The Thai baht was highly rated from 13.1459/1685 to 13.1232/2146 against the Singapore Dollar from 3.3060/3099 to 3.3023/3228.
Local memos also moved from 270.9/271.4 to 269.5/271.3 against Indonesian Rupiah, while the Philippine Peso went from 7.64/7.65 on Thursday to 7.60/7.65.
