KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 — The ringgit ended marginally higher against the US dollar as investors continued to favour the local currency in anticipation of a dovish rate hike in the United States (US), said an analyst.
At 6pm, the local note stood at 4.4810/4870 versus the greenback from yesterday’s closing rate of 4.4820/4860.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit continued to stage a commendable performance against the US dollar on Wednesday.
He noted that the oversold ringgit condition may incentivise investors to stay, especially when the Federal Reserve (Fed) might tilt their balance towards dovish next week.
“Markets are expecting the Fed to change their stance during the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting next week and that could be positive for the ringgit in the immediate term,” Mohd Afzanizam told Bernama.
Meanwhile, the local note was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It improved versus the British pound to 5.4292/4364 from 5.4474/4523 at Tuesday’s close, firmed vis-à-vis the euro to 4.7853/7917 from 4.8007/8050, but fell against the Japanese yen to 3.3405/3453 from 3.3383/3415 yesterday.
At the same time, the ringgit was traded mixed against its Asean counterparts.
The local note rose against the Thai baht to 12.9415/9675 from 12.9830/9999 yesterday and was almost flat vis-à-vis the Indonesian rupiah at 291.20/291.80 compared to 291.20/291.70 previously.
It depreciated versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3291/3341 from 3.3254/3286 on Tuesday and declined against the Philippine peso to 8.15/8.17 from 8.13/8.14.
— Bernama
