KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 — The ringgit today opened slightly lower against the US dollar today as investors stayed on the sidelines awaiting the decision of regional banks on interest rates.
At 9am, the ringgit was at 4.1470/1520 against the greenback from 4.1460/1500 at yesterday’s close.
A dealer said the central banks of Indonesia and England had announced yesterday, they would hold interest rates, but indicated a cut in future.
“Both banks have said they were open to decreasing the overnight policy rate, due to slower economic growth. This is after the US Federal Reserve held interest rates on Wednesday and also indicated a cut in future.
“This indicates in turn that other banks in the region would also take similar steps in announcing their interest rates decision,” he added.
The dealer, however said, the ringgit is expected to stay on an uptrend due to higher oil prices, positive sentiment from the US-Sino trade war talks, as well as higher commodity prices.
“The ringgit rose 0.63 per cent yesterday compared with Wednesday’s close and coupled with an optimistic outlook, I believe it can reach 4.1440 against the greenback by closing,” he added.
The ringgit opened mixed against a basket of major currencies.
It improved against the pound to 5.2700/2772 from 5.2733/2792 yesterday, but slid against the Singapore dollar to 3.0574/0622 from 3.0562/0596.
The ringgit was lower against the yen at 3.8623/8681 from 3.8453/8494 and against the euro, the local currency was traded higher at 4.6828/6901 from 4.6862/6924. — Bernama
