KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — The ringgit opened flat versus the US dollar today on lack of new catalysts, as the greenback regained its traction due to the possibility of risk aversion returning to the markets.

The stalling of extra stimulus negotiations in past hours had given the greenback enough reason to reclaim lost ground after testing fresh multi-week lows, dealers said.

At 9am, the local currency stood at 4.1440/1490 versus the greenback, compared with 4.1440/1480 at yesterday’s close.

Bank Islam chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar index (DXY) gained momentum last night to 93.055 amidst uncertainty over the US fiscal stimulus bill which seemed likely to be passed after the US presidential election on November 3 or into early next year.

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Nonetheless, he said the initial jobless claims for the week ended October 17 fell by 55,000 to 787,000, suggesting that the labour market is still healing from the pandemic shocks.

“Major currencies such as the euro and British pound were weakened against the dollar while Japanese yen was flat.

“As such, the ringgit would continue its present trajectory of between RM4.14 and RM4.15 against US dollar in light of the lack of catalysts globally.

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“Domestically, investors are looking at the upcoming Bank Negara Malaysia’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting and the tabling of Budget 2021 in early November for more clues in order to form their opinion on the prospects of the economy and its association to the ringgit and financial markets,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded higher against other major currencies at the opening today.

It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0527/0575 from yesterday’s close of 3.0531/0567 and increased against the British pound to 5.4162/4236 from 5.4274/4331 yesterday.

The local currency improved versus the yen to 3.9561/9612 from 3.9565/9610 and advanced against the euro to 4.8895/8958 from 4.9028/9092. — Bernama