Ringgit ends four-day losing streak as selling pressure eases

Ringgit ends four-day losing streak as selling pressure eases

The local note started strong as the US dollar steadied on robust hiring data, easing recession concerns.

KUALA LUMPUR:
The ringgit reversed its downward trend to open on a positive note on Monday as the US dollar moved flat after the latest US hiring data repudiated concerns of a recession.

The latest economic data from the US were mixed, suggesting that the world’s largest economy remained resilient despite pockets of weakness.

A total of 216,000 new jobs were created in December, surpassing the forecast of 170,000.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the focus would be on the US inflation data this week.

“Inflation is expected to remain steady at around 3.2% in December, while core consumer price index (CPI) is envisaged to go lower to 3.8% from 4.0% previously,” he added.

At 9.01am, the ringgit rose to 4.6480/4.6545 versus the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.6525/4.6580.

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

It slipped vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9132/5.9215 from 5.8891/5.8961 last Friday, eased versus the euro to 5.0886/5.0957 from 5.0763/5.0823 and depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.2144/3.2191 from 3.2038/3.2078 previously.

At the same time, the ringgit was traded mostly mixed against Asean currencies.

It was slightly lower against the Singapore dollar at 3.4968/3.5020 from 3.4944/3.4988 at Friday’s close and slid vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 13.4107/13.4364 from 13.4001/13.4236 previously.

The ringgit was flat versus the Philippines’ peso at 8.37/8.39 from 8.37/8.38 and was slightly higher against the Indonesian rupiah to 299.5/300.1 from 299.8/300.3 last week.

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