KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — The ringgit closed flat against the US dollar on Tuesday as investors remained cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) policy meeting next week, an analyst said.
At 6pm, the ringgit stood at 4.0805/0845 against the greenback, unchanged from Monday’s closing.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit traded within a narrow range today amid a mixed performance by foreign exchange markets across the Asia.
He said the US Dollar Index (DXY) fell as market expectations of a US Federal Reserve rate hike at the Oct 27-28 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting remained low.
“Having said that, markets appear to be maintaining the view that the Fed would increase interest rates in December. Hence, this could explain why the ringgit remained in a narrow range, given expectations of a hawkish monetary stance by the Fed,” he told Bernama.
At the close, the ringgit traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
It dropped versus the Japanese yen to 2.5803/5830 from 2.5790/5817 at Monday’s close, declined against the British pound to 5.4475/4528 from 5.4369/4422 and inched down vis-a-vis the euro to 4.5771/5816 from 4.5726/5771.
The ringgit performed mixed against its Asean peers.
It gained against the Thai baht to 12.1241/1411 from 12.1451/1613 yesterday, but depreciated versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1914/1950 from 3.1886/1920.
It eased vis-a-vis Indonesian rupiah to 226.8/227.1 from 226.0/226.4, and remained unchanged against the Philippine peso at 6.47/6.48. — Bernama
