KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — For next week, the ringgit is expected to stay within the 4.30 to 4.40 range that has been adhered to since April, said an analyst.
FXTM market analyst Han Tan said it remained to be seen whether the ringgit could meaningfully breach the 4.35 level against the US dollar after having already twice been repelled lower from the region so far this month and carving a path back towards 4.40 level.
To the downside, the psychologically-important 4.30 mark remains the key support level, though sub-4.30 levels will probably be harder to come by over the near term.
“In the week ahead, global investors will continue looking for signs that countries can emerge from their respective lockdowns and return to some measure of normality,” Tan told Bernama.
Malaysia’s economic calendar for the week ahead features the April consumer price index, which is forecast to post a 1.5 per cent contraction and mark a second consecutive month of negative reading.
“However, the resumption of onshore economic activities is likely to bolster domestic consumption and support price pressures,” he added.
For the week just ended, the 50-day moving average for the local note versus the greenback reverted to a support level, with the currency pair staying above that key technical indicator this week.
“Still, the ringgit was one of the better performers in the region against the US dollar for the week, aided by the positive surprise in the country’s first quarter of gross domestic product (GDP),” Tan said.
Looking further out, he said the risk of spiking US-China trade tensions amid attempts to recover from the global pandemic only added to the downward pressures on Asian currencies.
Meanwhile, on a Friday-to-Friday basis, the ringgit ended mostly higher against a basket of currencies.
It was lower against the US dollar at 4.3480/3540 from 4.3310/3370 yesterdaylast week and slipped against the euro at 4.7011/7084 from 4.6948/6022.
However, the local currency rose versus the Japanese yen to 4.0605/0673 from 4.0716/0780 a week ago, strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.0542/0591 from 3.0645/0696, and appreciated vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.3067/3154 from 5.3626/3718. — Bernama
