KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 — The ringgit ended higher against the US dollar today as investors remained cautious ahead of the United States’ (US) inflation data due to be released this week, said an analyst.
At 6 pm, the local note strengthened to 4.4925/4965 versus the US dollar compared with Friday’s closing rate of 4.5180/5220.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd head of economics, market analysis and social finance, Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said despite the heightened global uncertainties, the ringgit appreciated against the greenback on Monday
“I believe the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) situation would result in the Federal Reserve (Fed) having to rethink its monetary tightening strategy.
“However, it is still too soon to tell whether the Fed could change its tactics. As such, the inflation report for the month of February will be closely watched data this week,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local note fell against the Japanese yen to 3.3727/3763 from 3.3038/3070 at Friday’s close, declined versus the British pound to 5.4292/4340 from 5.4148/4196 previously and slipped vis-a-vis the euro to 4.7957/8000 from 4.7823/7865.
At the same time, the ringgit was traded mixed against Asean currencies.
The local currency weakened against the Thai baht to 12.9819/9994 from 12.8894/9064 at the end of last week and eased versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3354/3389 from 3.3316/3351 previously.
However, it rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 292.10/292.25 from 292.30/292.80 on Friday and gained versus the Philippines peso to 8.17/8.18 from 8.19/8.20 previously. — Bernama
