kuala lumpur: Ringgit opened higher against the US dollar for the fifth consecutive time, as uncertainty about US customs policies encouraged traders and investors to avoid riskier assets, analysts said.
At 8am, the local memo was even more highly praised at 4.4185/4315 against the greenback from 4.4230/4270 at the end of Thursday.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an enforcement action to delay tariffs for nearly a month on many Mexican and Canadian products subject to the US Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Free Trade Treaty.
Mohd Sedek Jantan, head of investment research at Uob Kay Hian Wealth Advisors, said the move will ease recent trade frictions and raise investors’ sentiment for emerging market currencies, including the ringgit.
“In addition, the US trade deficit expanded to record highs in January as businesses put imports on the forefront in anticipation of tariff hikes and exacerbated external imbalances,” he told Bernama.
He added that Trump’s new rhetorical label is seen in Canada and India as “high intake countries.”
“From a strategic perspective, a temporary reprieve in trade tensions supports a more constructive outlook for the short-term ringgit,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Mohadha Ahzanizam Abdulrashid, chief economist at Bank Muamarat Malaysia BHD, said that while the Monetary Policy Committee of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) appears to be paying attention to the global economy, it tends to stabilize overnight policy rates (OPRs) over a close period.
“From a technical perspective, USD/Myr is in the neutral territory, indicating that ringgits can trade within a narrow range today, and could possibly vibrate RM4.42 to RM4.43,” he pointed out.
The ringgits also made higher exchanges against baskets of major currencies.
It was strengthened to 2.9833/9922 against the Japanese yen from 2.9940/9969 at the end of Thursday, solidifying to 5.6964/7015 against the British pound, and rose from 4.7773/7816 to 4.7662/7803 against the Euro.
Local currencies were almost high against ASEAN currencies.
The Indonesian Rupiah was improved to 270.4/271.3 from Thursday 270.6/271.0, and they rose to 13.0880/1424 from 13.0939/1124 against the Thai baht, and were strengthened to 3.3147/3247 against the Singapore Dollar from 3.3186/3218.
However, at 7.71/7.73 it had not changed against the Philippine peso.
