Ringgit opens higher vs weaker US dollar - Analyst

KUALA LUMPUR - The ringgit opened higher against a weaker US dollar on Thursday, following the release of the United States (US) inflation data, said an analyst.

At 9 am, the local note rose to 4.3995/4035 versus the greenback from Wednesday’s closing rate of 4.4065/4120.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US Dollar Index fell 0.67 per cent to 101.52 points as the headline consumer price index (CPI) -- a key gauge of inflation -- came in lower at 5.0 per cent year-on-year against consensus’ estimate of 5.2 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Core CPI was in line with the consensus estimates of 5.6 per cent.

"The latest print for the US CPI is ringgit positive as thoughts of a pause by the Federal Reserve (Fed) has gained momentum, thus the ringgit could possibly trade between RM4.39 and RM4.40 today," he said to Bernama.

He added that the two-year US Treasury yields, which are closely tuned to the Fed Fund Rate, had dropped by six basis points to 3.96 per cent, suggesting that the Fed is likely to pause their rate hike campaign soon.

At the same time, messages from the Fed were rather mixed as San Francisco Fed president Mary Daly was of the view that more rate hikes might not be needed while Richmond Fed’s Thomas Barkin indicated that monetary tightening still has some way to go, said Afzanizam.

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

It depreciated vis-a-vis the euro to 4.8403/8447 from 4.8159/8219 at Wednesday’s close, decreased versus the British pound to 5.4959/5009 from 5.4716/4784 and went down against the Japanese yen to 3.3037/3069 compared with 3.2943/2987 yesterday.

However, the local note traded mixed against Asean currencies.

It strengthened against the Philippines’ peso at 7.97/7.99 from 7.98/7.99 at Wednesday’s close and gained versus the Indonesian rupiah at 295.60/296.00 from 296.00/296.60 yesterday.

However, the ringgit was lower against the Singapore dollar at 3.3136/3169 from 3.3104/3150 and declined against the Thai baht to 12.8923/9108 from 12.8657/8874 previously. - BERNAMA