KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5 — The ringgit continues to sustain its upward momentum for an 11th consecutive day against the United States dollar as investors redirect their investments to the Asia-Pacific region following weaker United States jobs data on Friday, said an analyst.
At 8am today, the ringgit appreciated to 4.4930/5010 versus the United States dollar from Friday’s close of 4.4945/4995.
It was reported the United States unemployment rate jumped to a near three-year high of 4.3 per cent in July from June’s 4.1 per cent.
UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said in the wake of weak United States jobs data, American bond yields dropped significantly as investors sought safety in fixed income.
Consequently, the two-year treasury yields experienced a notable decline, from 4.39 per cent to the current 3.91 per cent, marking the lowest level since March 2023 and resulting in the dollar index dropping more than 1 per cent in a single day.
“Additionally, the dovish tone from both the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve last week is likely to sustain the increased demand for the ringgit,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid believes the ringgit is on track to move towards its current support level of RM4.40 against the United States dollar.
He anticipated the ringgit to range between RM4.47 and RM4.48 today.
“The United States bond markets are in bullish mode, indicating the players are expecting a steeper drop in the Fed Fund Rate,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded lower against a basket of major currencies and was mixed against Asean currencies.
It fell against the British pound to 5.7447/7550 from 5.7264/7328 at Friday’s close, dropped vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9019/9106 from 4.8635/8689 previously, and decreased versus the Japanese yen to 3.0848/0913 from 3.0177/0214 last week.
Against Asean currencies, the local note was almost flat versus the Indonesian rupiah to 277.3/277.9 from 277.4/277.8 and was flat vis-a-vis the Philippine peso at 7.73/7.57.
It slid against the Singapore dollar to 3.3889/3952 from 3.3750/3793 and dropped versus the Thai baht to 12.7158/7503 from 12.7093/7284 previously.
— Bernama
