KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 — The ringgit rose marginally against the US dollar at the close after a muted trading session as optimism was dented by hawkish comments from some US Federal Reserve (Fed) officials on the interest rate outlook.
Investors were also cautious ahead of inflation data from the United States later in the week.
At 6pm, the local note improved slightly to 4.3715/3755 against the greenback from Monday’s close of 4.3720/3765.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said the upcoming US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data due on Thursday prompted traders to be in wait-and-see mode. The CPI numbers will determine the tone of the Fed’s monetary policy going forward.
“While the headline (number) is expected to decline, concerns remain on the reading of core services, which has remained sticky due to strong US jobs reports.
“I think once we clear this hurdle, the ringgit can rally more on the China reopening impulse,’’ he told Bernama.
China is also expected to release its trade data tomorrow as well as its CPI and producer price index on Thursday, which are set to add volatility to the currency market.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.2856/2891 from 3.2793/2832 at Monday’s close and weakened vis-à-vis the Japanese yen to 3.3160/3196 from 3.3009/3045 previously.
The local currency depreciated versus the British pound to 5.3258/3307 from 5.3124/3179 yesterday and eased against the euro to 4.6972/7015 from 4.6636/6684.
— Bernama
