Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the ringgit was stronger against the US dollar today despite the US Federal Reserve (Fed) slightly delaying its rate cut decision, possibly to June instead of May.

The US Fed kept the interest rate unchanged at 5.5% during its January monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.

“While the Fed may have disappointed the market, their rate cut narratives are pretty much intact, this could be positive for emerging market currencies including the ringgit,” he told Bernama.

At 6pm, the ringgit rose to 4.7155/4.7185 against the greenback compared to Wednesday’s closing rate of 4.7305/4.7355.

The market was closed yesterday for the Federal Territory Day holiday.

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

It was easier vis-a-vis the Japanese yen at 3.2142/3.2164 from 3.2021/3.2057 at Wednesday’s close, depreciated against the British pound to 6.0160/6.0199 from 5.9935/5.9999 and declined against the euro to 5.1352/5.1384 from 5.1198/5.1252 previously.

Similarly, the local currency traded lower versus Asean currencies.

The local unit was almost flat against the Singapore dollar at 3.5309/3.5334 versus 3.5302/3.5342 at Wednesday’s close and declined against the Thai baht to 13.3735/13.3873 from 13.3321/13.3511.

It was lower against the Indonesian rupiah at 301.0/301.4 compared to 299.6/300.2 on Wednesday and slid versus the Philippine peso to 8.43/8.44 from 8.40/8.41 previously.