KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — The ringgit extended its uptrend against the US dollar for the second consecutive day driven by continued buying interest, said an economist.
At 6pm, the local note appreciated to 4.3970/4020 versus the US dollar from yesterday’s closing rate of 4.4020/4065.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and head of social finance Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit was stronger against the US dollar in line with other Asian currencies such as the Singapore dollar, Chinese yuan and Japanese yen.
“It appears that market participants are constructive towards ringgit.
“Elevated crude oil prices may, to some degree, help to sustain the value of the ringgit along with the expectation of a US Federal pivot with respect to their interest rate decision,” he told Bernama.
He noted that tonight, the US ISM for services, expected to decline to 54.5 points based on consensus estimates, would be closely watched by the markets.
“If the trend continues to suggest weaker growth, it might lead to further weakening of the US dollar in the immediate term,” he added.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It eased vis-a-vis the euro to 4.8156/8211 from 4.8118/8167 at Tuesday’s close and depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.3399/3440 compared with 3.3135/3171, but rose versus the British pound to 5.4879/4941 from 5.5078/5134 previously.
At the same time, the ringgit traded mixed against Asean currencies.
It inched up versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3165/3205 from 3.3198/3234 at Tuesday’s close and increased slightly versus the Indonesian rupiah to 294.40/294.90 from 295.40/295.80.
However, the local note fell vis-a-vis the Philippine peso at 8.08/8.09 from 8.07/8.09 yesterday and weakened against the Thai baht to 12.9782/9991 from 12.8612/8800 previously. — Bernama
