kuala lumpur: The ringgit opened roughly flat against the US dollar, with the two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) results and strong US economic data expected to continue to support the dollar, economists said.
However, the ringgit saw stronger trading when indexed against a basket of currencies.
As of 8am, the ringgit was at 4.5030/5250 ringgit, while yesterday’s closing price was 4.5030/5080 ringgit.
Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, chief economist at Bank Muamarat Malaysia, cited the US economic report, saying the number of new unemployment insurance claims fell to 220,000 last week, while the domestic total for the final third quarter of 2024 declined. He said U.S. indicators show the economy continues to show resilience, with GDP exceeding expectations. Previously from 242,000.
As a result, the US dollar index rose further to 108.418 points.
“In that regard, the near-term situation is dollar positive. So, the dollar ringgit will continue to hover around RM4.50 in the short term,” he added.
The ringgit appreciated against other major currencies.
Against the Japanese yen, it rose to 2.8563/8706 from 2.8687/8723 yesterday, against the British pound it improved from 5.6999/7062 to 5.6269/6544, and against the euro it improved from 4.6876/6928 to 4.6669/6897.
The ringgit traded mixed against ASEAN currencies.
The local note rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.3059/3226 from 3.3130/3169, but fell against the Thai baht to 13.059/3226 from Thursday’s close of 13.0322/0530.
Against the Indonesian rupiah, it was almost unchanged at 276.0/277.5 compared to Thursday’s closing price of 276.0/276.4, and against the Philippine peso it was unchanged at 7.63/76.7 compared to the previous price of 7.63/7.64.
