The ringgit opened marginally higher against the US dollar today, as the US dollar Index remained weak after reversing from an 11-week high.
According to an analyst, the market sentiment turned cautious ahead of the release of the United States (US) economic data this week which allows traders to judge the market direction further.
At 9 am today, our local note stood at 4.6530/6555 against the US dollar from 4.6535/6565 during Monday’s close.
Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid is the chief economist and social finance head of Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd said the US dollar has been rather flat for now as the markets are waiting for new data on the employment market in the US later this week.
The nonfarm payroll (NFP) will be announced on Friday with consensus estimating a decrease to 170,000 in August from 187,000 in the preceding month as the unemployment rate is expected to remain at 3.5 per cent, he noted.
Mohd Afzanizam also shared that the auction for 2-year and 5-year US Treasury notes drew the highest yield since 2008, indicating the bond market has anticipated that the interest rate hike has yet to settle down.
The ringgit is expected to stay weak against the US dollar in the near term as the market remains highly uncertain as to whether the Federal Reserve (Fed) will change its stance amid the ongoing tightness in the labour market.
He noted that the inflation rate is also similar with the Fed’s inflation gauge, the core personal consumption expenditure, to be announced on Thursday, is expected to record 4.2 per cent in July against 4.1 per cent in June based on estimation consensus.
“We are expecting the ringgit against the US dollar to stay in the range of 4.64 to 4.66 in the near term,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ringgit also opens lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local note decreased versus the euro to 5.0364/0391 from 5.0290/0323 at Monday’s close, slipped against the British pound to 5.8693/8724 from 5.8522/8560, and declined against the Japanese yen to 3.1772/1793 from 3.1752/1774 yesterday.
At the same time, the ringgit traded mostly lower against other Asean currencies.
It eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.4339/4360 from 3.4282/4307 during Monday’s closing and was flat against the Indonesian rupiah at 304.2/304.5 from 304.2/304.6 previously.
However, the local currency depreciated vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 13.1940/2063 from 13.1936/2088 on Monday and was marginally lower against the Philippine peso at 8.20/8.20 from 8.19/8.20.
