KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 — The ringgit strengthened against the US dollar at the close today, one day after Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) maintained the overnight policy rate at 1.75 per cent.

At 6pm, the domestic unit advanced to 4.1510/1550 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.1620/1660.

"When a central bank gets is right and sounds very confident in their projection like the BNM did yesterday, the market likes it,” AxiCorp chief global market strategist Stephen Innes told Bernama.

BNM’s monetary policy statement was more upbeat with the policy stance turning neutral. It sees economic activity recovering from the trough in April, going by recent labour market, household spending, and trade data.

On the global front, the central bank cited continued improvement in the global economy, with the easing of containment measures across more economies and strong policy support.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against other major currencies. 

It appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.0384/0420 from 3.0426/0467 yesterday and rose against the yen to 3.9076/9124 from 3.9220/9261 yesterday.  

The domestic unit surged against the British pound to 5.3104/3167 from 5.4198/4266 but eased against the euro to 4.9281/9332 from 4.9266/9330. — Bernama