KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 — The ringgit closed higher versus the US dollar on Monday amidst anticipation that currency markets would remain steady for the first part of the week, said a dealer.
At 6pm, the local note improved to 4.1445/1495 from last Friday’s closing of 4.1560/1575.
OANDA Asia Pacific senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said currency markets are expected to stay steady as investors await a slew of data releases later this week.
“However, a spike in the United States (US) yields or the threat to growth due to the virus situations in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia exposed the Thai Baht, Ringgit and Rupiah to pressure and will likely do so throughout the week,” he said.
He said that the week would be dominated by the release of China’s official Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) on Wednesday, the broader Caixin Manufacturing PMI on Thursday as well as the US Non-Farm Payrolls on Friday.
At the close, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
The local note inched up versus the British pound to 5.7700/7769 from 5.7781/7802 at Friday’s close and appreciated against the euro to 4.9481/9541 from 4.9627/9645.
It also rose versus the Singapore dollar to 3.0865/0906 from 3.0964/0980 last Friday and was slightly better vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.7439/7484 from 3.7526/7540 previously. — Bernama
