KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 — The ringgit opened higher against the United States dollar today, ahead of Malaysia’s second quarter (Q2) gross domestic product (GDP) official data, to be released on Friday, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said.
At 8am, the local currency rose to 4.0895/0950 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.0905/0940.
Afzanizam added that the economy could expand by 5.8 per cent in Q2, underpinned by strong domestic performance.
“The Malaysian economy remained fairly resilient, which could provide further support for the ringgit.
“As such, the ringgit is expected to remain at around RM4.08 to RM4.09 against the US dollar (today),” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, he said the US Dollar Index (DXY) is mostly flat as traders and investors await US consumer price index (CPI) data points tonight, noting that the DXY is currently hovering in the 99.72-99.89 range.
He said consensus estimates the US CPI at 3.4 per cent, a slight moderation from the actual CPI print of 3.5 per cent in June.
At the open, the ringgit was mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.5673/5709 from 2.5680/5703 at yesterday’s close, but slid against the euro to 4.7205/7269 from 4.7188/7228, and eased vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.5241/5315 from 5.5238/5285 previously.
The local note traded mixed against regional currencies.
It increased against the Indonesian rupiah to 228.9/229.3 from 229.0/229.3 at yesterday’s close, but eased against the Thai baht to 12.3356/3585 from 12.3323/3481 previously.
The local note decreased against the Singapore dollar to 3.1952/1997 from 3.1930/1962 at the close yesterday, and traded little changed versus the Philippine peso at 6.67/6.69 from 6.68/6.69 yesterday.
