KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27 — The ringgit continued last week’s uptrend to end higher against the US dollar today, with risk-on mode prevailing in line with the Malaysian equity market’s performance.
At 6pm, the local note rose to 4.1815/1850 versus the greenback from 4.1935/1980 at Friday’s close.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) surged 17.46 points today to finish at 1,533.91 on bargain-hunting and window-dressing activities, dealers said.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit strengthened further against the US dollar as it entered the last trading week of 2021.
“Covid-19-related risks remained the key downside risks factor. But given that ringgit has been in an oversold position for an extended period, there might be a chance that the local currency could settle for further appreciation.
“Our year-end target remained at RM4.15 for 2021 while for 2022, we are projecting the ringgit to appreciate to RM4.09 by end of the year,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile a dealer said the US Dollar Index moved sideways for three straight days today and barely changed from Friday at 96.11, as the currency markets were in holiday mode and would likely remain so until the middle of next week.
“Meanwhile, a stronger Chinese yuan continued to backstop Asian foreign exchanges from negative sentiment shifts.
“The PBOC said in a statement on Saturday said that there would be more proactive utilisation of monetary policy tools moving forward, in what appears to be a pledge for greater support to the Chinese economy,” he added.
The ringgit was also traded higher against a basket of other major currencies.
It increased against the Japanese yen to 3.6462/6496 from 3.6660/6702 on Friday and strengthened vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.6040/6087 from 5.6226/6287 previously.
The local unit appreciated versus the Singapore dollar to 3.0789/0820 from Friday’s 3.0887/0954 and rose against the euro to 4.7284/7324 from 4.7567/7618. — Bernama
