KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 ― The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar today as the greenback continued to move sideways against the local note after no changes were made to the US monetary policy, a dealer said.
At 9.03am, the ringgit rose to 4.2260/2270 versus the greenback from yesterday's close of 4.2330/2355.
ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the US interest rate remained unchanged at 0.25 per cent, while the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) report indicated that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will not remove the current financial stimulus until employment in the US is at pre-pandemic levels.
“When talking about inflation, the Fed acknowledged a temporary rise in prices but suggested that since inflation had been below 2.0 per cent for a long time, it is now willing to accept a temporary move above 2.0 per cent as this would bring the average to around 2.0 per cent.
“This means that the Fed is likely to continue to print money to support the US economy and the dollar could resume its downward movement against its counterparts,” he said.
Meanwhile, at the opening bell, the local note was traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
The ringgit weakened vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0044/0056 from yesterday’s close of 5.0017/0047 and depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.8516/8529 from 3.8489/8515.
The local unit fell against the British pound to 5.8758/8772 from 5.8733/8768 and declined against the Singapore dollar to 3.1154/1166 from 3.1141/1162. ― Bernama
