KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24 — The ringgit opened flat against the US dollar today as investors opted for a wait-and-see attitude on the latest economic assessment by the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, an analyst said.
At 9am, the local note stood at 4.1840/1875 versus the greenback from 4.1840/1870 at Friday’s close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said it is a week of FOMC meeting which will be held on Jan 25 and 26, that brings in cautious sentiment.
“Perhaps it’s going to be a hawkish tone, given the improvement in the economy and signs of inflationary pressures which is quite persistent,” he told Bernama.
As such, he expects the domestic note to trade in a narrow range of RM4.18-RM4.19 today.
Overall, the local note was traded mostly lower against a basket of other major currencies except the British pound, rising to 5.6706/6753 from 5.6764/6805 at Friday’s close.
The ringgit opened lower versus the euro to 4.7442/7482 from 4.7434/7468, slipped against the Singapore dollar to 3.1101/1132 from 3.1096/1121, and dropped against the Japanese yen to 3.6753/6787 from 3.6715/6741 previously. — Bernama
