KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5 — The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar today, supported by weaker-than-expected US economic data that weighed on the greenback.
At 8 am, the local currency edged up to 4.0940/0995 against the US dollar from yesterday's close of 4.0945/0985.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed job openings fell for a second consecutive month to 7.36 million in June from 7.54 million in May.
"The US Dollar Index (DXY) slipped 0.01 per cent to 99.890 points. Following the JOLTS report, the ringgit could receive some support today.
"Therefore, the ringgit is expected to trade within a range of RM4.08 to RM4.10," he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said the ringgit is expected to trade with a firmer bias, supported by sustained capital inflows into Asia's technology sector and resilient global risk sentiment.
However, he said gains are likely to be capped as investors remain cautious ahead of the release of the US non-farm payrolls (NFP) report on Friday.
"The broader currency markets remained largely range-bound despite improving risk appetite and a sharp decline in oil prices, with the latter reinforcing expectations of a more dovish policy stance by the US Federal Reserve.
"The difficulty is that the decline in oil prices is also shaping the policy outlook for other central banks, albeit to varying degrees. As each currency adjusts to its respective central bank's policy reaction, the relative impact across the major currency pairs is being compressed ahead of Friday's NFP report," he added.
The ringgit, however, traded lower against a basket of major currencies at the opening.
It edged down against the Japanese yen to 2.5952/5989 from 2.5929/5956 at yesterday's close, weakened against the euro to 4.7212/7275 from 4.7120/7166, and slipped against the British pound to 5.5060/5134 from 5.5034/5088.
Against regional currencies, the ringgit traded mostly lower.
It weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.1932/1980 from 3.1899/1932, depreciated against the Thai baht to 12.3113/3330 from 12.2487/2654, and eased against the Indonesian rupiah to 227.1/227.5 from 227.1/227.4.
The local currency was unchanged against the Philippine peso at 6.69/6.70.
