KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 — A broadly weaker US dollar and strong risk appetite have bolstered the ringgit to end at its highest level in seven months.
At the close, the ringgit stood at 4.1400/1450 against the greenback versus 4.1630/1680 last Friday.
AxiCorp chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said the US dollar continued to weaken post-Jackson Hole symposium.
He said rising oil prices and favourable Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) yield is lifting demand for the local unit.
“There are significant foreign demand for MGS on expectations of another rate cut in September.
“Malaysia has also been an exemplary economy for fighting the virus amid low virus case counts,” he told Bernama.
In addition, Innes said more positive signs from China’s economic recovery, with August manufacturing activity soaring to its highest level since January 2011, also drove risk-on moves in the commodity space today and this is good for the ringgit.
Caixin Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 53.1 in August from 52.8 in July.
Locally, IHS Markit said manufacturing production was stable in August, but lost some of the momentum seen during the initial rebound from lockdown and the latest reading followed a joint-record expansion in June and further growth in July.
The headline IHS Markit Malaysia PMI — a composite single-figure indicator of the manufacturing performance — dipped to 49.3 in August from 50.0 in July.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mixed against other major currencies.
It went up against the Singapore dollar to 3.0490/0539 from last Friday’s 3.0581/0629 and was higher against the yen at 3.9149/9207 from 3.9393/9444.
The ringgit depreciated against the British pound to 5.5671/5742 from 5.5251/5322 and declined against the euro to 4.9593/9665 from 4.9486/9562 previously. — Bernama
