The US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decision is expected later tonight, and the ringgit started the day down versus the US dollar.
From Tuesday’s close of 4.7615/7655, the ringgit slipped to 4.7675/7720 against the US dollar at 9:05 a.m.
According to Dr. Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, chief economist and head of social finance at Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd, most traders are waiting for the FOMC decision and generally expect interest rates to stay the same.
“The anticipation of no rate hike influenced by various factors, including the economic conditions, inflation trends, employment figures, and the US central bank’s forward guidance. If the central bank believes that the economy is not overheating and inflation is under control, it may choose to keep interest rates unchanged to support economic growth.
“Financial markets are also closely watching the US central bank meetings and announcements signalling or indicating the direction of interest rates, as these decisions can have significant implications for various financial assets, including bonds, stocks, and currencies,” he told Bernama.
But after briefly touching RM4.80 in mid-October, he anticipated that the ringgit would stay steady at roughly RM4.76 to the US dollar.
In the meantime, the value of the local currency increased concerning a major currency basket.
The ringgit improved against the euro to 5.0397/0445 from 5.0729/0772 earlier, vs the British pound to 5.7858/7913 from 5.8014/8063, and against the Japanese yen to 3.1496/1530 from 3.1588/1616 at yesterday’s close.
The native currency exchanged for a variety of ASEAN currencies.
At Tuesday’s end, it strengthened versus the Singapore dollar to 3.4794/4830 from 3.4867/4902 and climbed versus the Thai baht to 13.1626/1805 from 13.2371/2544.
But the ringgit depreciated against the Philippine peso, ending the day at 8.40/8.41 from 8.39/8.40, and depreciated versus the Indonesian rupiah, ending the day at 300.1/300.5 from 299.7/300.1.
The US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decision is expected later tonight, and the ringgit started the day down versus the US dollar.