KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 — The ringgit ended higher on Wednesday against a muted United States (US) dollar ahead of the release of the US Federal Reserve’s (US Fed) January policy meeting minutes.
At 6pm, the ringgit stood at 4.4410/4450 versus 4.4440/4480 from yesterday’s close.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US Fed’s meeting minutes will be released later tonight and it should provide further clarity on the US interest rate outlook going forward.
The report is also expected to offer some hints about how policymakers are weighing the risk of a global trade war.
Late on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said he would likely impose tariffs of around 25 per cent on automobile, semiconductor, and pharmaceutical imports with an announcement coming as soon as April, further hurting sentiment in the global currency market.
“Policy uncertainties, which stem from the Trump administration, and geopolitical dynamics, especially concerning the Ukraine-Russia war, have led market sentiments in the currency market to remain cautious.
"Indications from US Fed officials also suggest that the US central bank is not keen to ease its monetary policy in the near term,” he told Bernama.
The ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It appreciated versus the euro to 4.6306/6348 from 4.6511/6553 at Tuesday’s close and advanced vis-à-vis the British pound to 5.5965/6016 from 5.6030/6080 while decreasing marginally against the Japanese yen to 2.9277/9305 from 2.9272/9302 yesterday.
The local note also traded mostly better against Asean currencies.
It increased against the Singapore dollar to 3.3068/3102 from 3.3115/3150 at market close yesterday, improved versus the Thai baht to 13.1769/1946 from 13.1881/2067 and rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 272.0/272.4 from yesterday’s 272.9/273.3.
However, it dipped against the Philippine peso to 7.64/7.65 from 7.63/7.64 at Tuesday’s close.
— Bernama
