KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 — Malaysian ringgit is likely to trade on a cautious note between 4.10 and 4.13 against the US dollar next week, as investors await the outcome of two important meetings next week, namely the US-China meeting in Shanghai and US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
Vanguard Markets Pte Ltd managing partner Stephen Innes said the outcome of the Shanghai meeting is a sensitive spot for investors as a slight change could influence the market both ways.
“The US-China trade dispute is a sensitive issue as the decision would impact businesses worldwide,” he said.
As for the FOMC meeting, he said as global central banks eased outlook by implementing interest rate cuts, the ringgit has a chance to edge higher.
The US-China trade discussion will take place next Tuesday (July 30), while the FOMC meeting will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Melaka Securities Sdn Bhd, in a research note, said with the external sector remaining uncertain, the local currency depreciated to an average of RM4.15/US$1.00 in the second quarter of 2019 (2Q2019) compared with 4.09/US$1.00 in 1Q2019.
“Meanwhile, crude oil prices continue to trend higher, moving into the start of 2Q2019 after Opec’s output declined for the fourth straight month in March 2019,” he said.
As at 6.30pm, the benchmark Brent Crude was at US$63.69 per barrel.
For the week just ended, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against the US dollar on sentiments following the interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, US-China trade disputes and oil price movements.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the ringgit was at 4.1180/1210 compared with last Friday’s 4.1100/1130 against the greenback.
The local currency was traded higher against most other major currencies.
The ringgit rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0091/0118 from 3.0236/0269 in the preceding Friday and strengthened versus the Japanese yen to 3.7905/7936 from 3.8165/8207.
It also improved against the British pound to 5.1211/1265 from 5.1474/1519 and increased vis-a-vis the euro to 4.5879/5920 from 4.6184/6234. — Bernama
