KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 — The ringgit held steady against the United States (US) dollar on Wednesday amid a weaker greenback following dovish remarks by the US Federal Reserve's (US Fed) chair Jerome Powell.
At 6pm, the local note stood at 4.2305/2355 versus the US dollar.
According to reports, he told a conference that the US has a weak job market and above-target inflation, which creates a policy dilemma and economic uncertainty.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said Powell has also reignited expectations that a 25-basis-point interest rate cut is still on the table.
“The dovish remarks dampened the US Dollar Index (US DXY) down by 0.21 per cent to 98.842 points. The rise in US DXY of late has been largely associated with the US government shutdown, which resulted in delayed key data point releases,” he told Bernama.
Afzanizam added that the ringgit has maintained its narrow range against the US dollar, hovering around RM4.22 to RM4.23 during the trading session.
The ringgit weakened against a basket of major currencies.
It slipped against the euro to 4.9213/9272 from 4.8879/8937 at Tuesday’s close, softened versus the British pound to 5.6469/6535 from 5.6118/6184 yesterday, and declined vis-à-vis the Japanese yen to 2.7948/7983 from 2.7808/7843.
The ringgit also closed lower against Asean currencies.
The local note depreciated versus the Thai baht to 12.9933/13.0151 from 12.8975/9182 at yesterday’s close, ticked down against the Singapore dollar to 3.2648/2689 from 3.2512/2553 previously, eased against the Indonesian rupiah to 255.2/255.6 from 254.8/255.2, and dropped versus the Philippine peso to 7.29/7.30 from 7.26/7.27 previously.
