KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — The ringgit was nearly flat against the United States (US) dollar at Friday’s open as foreign exchange sentiment stayed cautious amid no signs of the Middle East crisis easing over the past week.
At 8am, the local currency traded at 3.9430/9550 against the greenback, compared with Thursday’s close of 3.9415/9480.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said risk-off sentiment continued to dominate the market, with major indices in the red while oil prices remained elevated, reflecting a cautious trading environment.
On the domestic front, Bank Negara Malaysia’s decision on the overnight policy rate (OPR) yesterday was in line with economists’ expectations, and policymakers appear to be monitoring developments in the Middle East before making any changes to the current monetary policy stance.
“Hence, the ringgit is expected to remain range-bound today,” he told Bernama.
At the time of writing, Brent crude traded at US$85.41 per barrel, while the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rose four basis points to 4.13 per cent.
Yesterday, the ringgit closed 0.04 per cent lower against the US dollar at RM3.9447, after moving within a narrow range of RM3.9305 to RM3.9483.
At the open, the ringgit was mostly higher against major currencies.
The local currency strengthened against the euro to 4.5762/5902 from 4.5808/5884 at Thursday’s close and improved vis-à-vis the Japanese yen to 2.5024/5102 from 2.5080/5124 previously.
However, it weakened against the British pound to 5.2659/2819 from 5.2635/2722 yesterday.
The ringgit traded mixed against its ASEAN peers.
It appreciated vis-à-vis the Thai baht to 12.4072/4539 from 12.4711/5016 on Thursday and strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.0795/0891 from 3.0885/0938 yesterday.
It was little changed against the Indonesian rupiah at 233.2/234.0, from 233.1/233.6 at the previous close, and unchanged versus the Philippine peso at 6.72/6.75, compared with 6.72/6.74.
