KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar on Tuesday after the release of the United States (US) ISM manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) which came in lower than expected at 46.0 points in June, said an economist.
At 9 am, the local unit rose marginally to 4.6635/6670 versus the greenback compared to 4.6640/6690 at Monday’s close.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit is well supported as the data indicate that the Federal Reserve may not be so hawkish although it may be inclined to maintain higher for longer narratives to clamp down inflation.
“US manufacturing continues to exhibit further weaknesses in June. The index has been below the 50-point demarcation line for eight months in a row since November last year, indicating that manufacturers had become pessimistic in the first half of 2023.
“Such reading suggests that the past monetary tightening had taken a toll on the economic activities with inflation as reflected by the core Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) which moderated to 4.6 per cent in May from as high as 5.4 per cent in February 2022,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
It fell vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0879/0917 from 5.0791/0845 at Monday’s close, weakened against the Japanese yen to 3.2280/2307 from 3.2252/2289 and decreased versus the British pound to 5.9212/9257 from 5.9088/9152 previously.
The local note also traded mostly lower against other Asean currencies.
The ringgit was down against the Singapore dollar to 3.4539/4570 versus 3.4482/4521 on Monday, slipped against the Thai baht to 13.3098/3263 from 13.2357/2563 and fell against the Philippine peso to 8.44/8.46 from 8.43/8.44.
It was flat against the Indonesian rupiah at 310.2/310.6 from 310.2/310.7 on Monday.
Short-term rates to remain stable
Short-term rates are expected to remain stable today on Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) operations to absorb surplus liquidity from the financial system.
Liquidity is estimated at RM37.01 billion in the conventional system and RM23.52 billion in Islamic funds.
Today, the central bank will conduct two qard tenders, comprising of RM1.6 billion tender for seven days and a RM300 million tender for 14 days.
It will also call for two reverse repo tenders, consisting of a RM1 billion tender for 31 days and a RM500 million tender for 92 days.
The central bank also announced the availability of reverse repo, sale and buy-back agreements as well as collateralised commodity murabahah facilities for tenors of one to three months.
At 4 pm, BNM will conduct up to a RM38.5 billion conventional overnight tender and a RM21.6 billion murabahah overnight tender.
Foreign exchange rates
Following are the opening Malaysian foreign exchange for major currencies today:
1 USD 4.6635/6670
100 yen 3.2280/2307
1 pound 5.9212/9257
1 euro 5.0879/0917
1 SGD 3.4539/4570
100 baht 13.3098/3263
1 mln rupiah 310.2/310.6
100 pesos 8.44/8.46
Malayan Banking Bhd exchange rates for today:
| SELLING TT/OD | BUYING TT | BUYING OD | |
| 1 US Dollar | 4.7320 | 4.5960 | 4.5885 |
| 1 Australian Dollar | 3.1780 | 3.0510 | 3.0230 |
| 1 Brunei Dollar | 3.5040 | 3.4020 | 3.3950 |
| 1 Canadian Dollar | 3.5700 | 3.4730 | 3.4540 |
| 1 Euro | 5.1740 | 5.0050 | 4.9750 |
| 1 New Zealand Dollar | 2.9260 | 2.8190 | 2.7880 |
| 1 Papua N Guinea Kina | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1 Singapore Dollar | 3.5040 | 3.4020 | 3.3950 |
| 1 Sterling Pound | 6.0170 | 5.8270 | 5.8060 |
| 1 Swiss Franc | 5.2670 | 5.1460 | 5.1280 |
| 100 UAE Dirham | 130.4300 | 123.6400 | 123.2500 |
| 100 Bangladesh Taka | 4.4500 | 4.1730 | 3.9260 |
| 100 Chinese Renminbi | 65.5000 | 63.0000 | N/A |
| 100 Danish Krone | 71.2000 | 65.5100 | 65.1900 |
| 100 Hongkong Dollar | 61.0900 | 58.0300 | 57.7200 |
| 100 Indian Rupee | 5.8700 | 5.5100 | 5.3000 |
| 100 Indonesian Rupiah | 0.0326 | 0.0295 | 0.0245 |
| 100 Japanese Yen | 3.2800 | 3.1750 | 3.1640 |
| 100 New Taiwan Dollar | 16.3000 | N/A | N/A |
| 100 Norwegian Krone | 45.4700 | 41.8000 | 41.3300 |
| 100 Pakistan Rupee | 1.6800 | 1.5700 | 1.3800 |
| 100 Philippine Peso | 8.6800 | 8.1800 | 7.9800 |
| 100 Qatar Riyal | 131.3500 | 124.6900 | 124.3800 |
| 100 Saudi Riyal | 127.6300 | 121.1700 | 120.8100 |
| 100 South Africa Rand | 26.1300 | 23.6000 | 23.3200 |
| 100 Sri Lanka Rupee | 1.5800 | 1.4500 | 1.2500 |
| 100 Swedish Krona | 45.0600 | 41.0200 | 40.9600 |
| 100 Thai Baht | 14.1300 | 12.5300 | 12.0100 |
Gold up
The physical price of gold as at 9.30 am stood at RM278.75 per gramme, up 79 sen from RM277.96 at 5 pm yesterday. – BERNAMA
