Ringgit reverses course to open lower

Ringgit reverses course to open lower

Dealer expects investors to stay cautious as the US Fed becomes increasingly hawkish.

KUALA LUMPUR:
The ringgit slipped further against the US dollar in a listless start to the day as markets in the US were closed yesterday for the Washington’s Birthday holiday.

It slipped at the opening bell to 4.4305/4.4350 versus the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.4280/4.4325.

ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the US dollar has shown an important upward trend against the ringgit in recent weeks, noting that the pair is currently approaching the resistance level of around 4.4300.

“This could cause the USD/MYR pair to drop towards 4.3600,” he said in a note today.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes expects Asian currencies, including the ringgit, to trade in tight ranges ahead of the US federal open market committee meeting tomorrow.

“There remains an air of caution due to the legacy effects of last week’s precipitous rise in yields, hence I think investors will remain very cautious with the US Federal Reserve sounding more hawkish,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

The local unit rose against the Japanese yen to 3.2997/3.3035 from 3.2998/3.3036 at yesterday’s close but declined vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.3152/3.3191 from 3.3136/3.3172 yesterday.

It also weakened versus the euro to 4.7300/4.7348 from 4.7291/4.7339 and fell against the British pound to 5.3286/5.3340 from 5.3233/5.3288 previously.

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