KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened little changed against the US dollar this morning as sentiments were mixed in light of the United States’ (US) thriving economy and China’s wobbling economy, said an analyst.
At 9 am, the local note slightly rose to 4.6460/6500 against the greenback from 4.6465/6510 at last Friday’s close.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said although these factors could have varying effects on other assets, they usually help strengthen the US dollar in the foreign exchange (forex) market.
“I anticipate that these themes will continue to remain dominant. However, as the US Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell is set to deliver a speech at Jackson Hole on Friday, I believe the market may experience range-bound trading,” he told Bernama.
Additionally, he said there is a possibility of a slight increase in the ringgit due to the ongoing discussions of stimulus in China and consistent intervention in the Chinese yuan, which should keep Asia forex stable this week.
Meanwhile, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit is likely to remain weak against the US dollar as the Fed is likely to keep its hawkish stance on interest rates.
“The divergence in monetary policy might boost the US dollar in the near term, although the Federal Open Market Committee members are expected to shift their direction at some point in the future,” he said.
Mohd Afzanizam also believes that Malaysia’s second quarter of 2023 gross domestic product print which came in at 2.9 per cent suggests that the Bank Negara Malaysia is likely to maintain their accommodative monetary.
In the meantime, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
It had weakened versus the Japanese yen to 3.1997/2027 from 3.1926/1959 last Friday, depreciated against the euro to 5.0530/0573 from 5.0503/0552 and inched down vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9204/9255 from 5.9131/9189 previously.
At the same time, the local note traded mixed against other Asean currencies.
The ringgit ticked up vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 13.1299/1460 from 13.1331/1510 but declined against the Singapore dollar to 3.4232/4267 from 3.4228/4264 last Friday.
Meanwhile, the local note remained flat against the Philippines’ peso at 8.27/8.28 as well as the Indonesian rupiah at 303.9/304.1.
Short-terms rates 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 RM47.59 billion in the conventional system and RM16.72 billion in Islamic funds.
Today, the central bank will conduct a RM1 billion conventional money market tender for seven days and a RM500 million Qard tender for seven days.
It will also conduct two reverse repo tenders, comprising a RM1.5 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, it will conduct up to RM48.6 billion conventional overnight tender and RM16.2 billion for Murabahah overnight tender.
Foreign exchange rates
Following are the opening Malaysian foreign exchange for major currencies today:
1 USD 4.6460/6500
100 yen 3.1997/2027
1 pound 5.9204/9255
1 euro 5.0530/0573
1 SGD 3.4232/4267
100 baht 13.1299/1460
1 mln rupiah 303.9/304.1
100 pesos 8.27/8.28
Exchange rates issued by Malayan Banking Bhd today
| SELLING TT/OD | BUYING TT | BUYING OD | |
| 1 US Dollar | 4.7120 | 4.5790 | 4.5605 |
| 1 Australian Dollar | 3.0410 | 2.9210 | 2.8980 |
| 1 Brunei Dollar | 3.4740 | 3.3740 | 3.3580 |
| 1 Canadian Dollar | 3.4780 | 3.3860 | 3.3670 |
| 1 Euro | 5.1380 | 4.9730 | 4.9420 |
| 1 New Zealand Dollar | 2.8050 | 2.7020 | 2.6820 |
| 1 Papua N Guinea Kina | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1 Singapore Dollar | 3.4740 | 3.3740 | 3.3580 |
| 1 Sterling Pound | 6.0180 | 5.8310 | 5.7940 |
| 1 Swiss Franc | 5.3320 | 5.2110 | 5.2040 |
| 100 UAE Dirham | 129.8700 | 123.1900 | 122.7600 |
| 100 Bangladesh Taka | 4.3970 | 4.1110 | 3.9040 |
| 100 Chinese Renminbi | 65.1900 | 62.4500 | N/A |
| 100 Danish Krone | 70.6700 | 65.0600 | 64.7000 |
| 100 Hongkong Dollar | 60.8400 | 57.8300 | 57.5500 |
| 100 Indian Rupee | 5.7600 | 5.4100 | 5.2000 |
| 100 Indonesian Rupiah | 0.0319 | 0.0289 | 0.0239 |
| 100 Japanese Yen | 3.2510 | 3.1490 | 3.1300 |
| 100 New Taiwan Dollar | 15.8000 | N/A | N/A |
| 100 Norwegian Krone | 45.5200 | 41.8800 | 41.8100 |
| 100 Pakistan Rupee | 1.6200 | 1.5100 | 1.3100 |
| 100 Philippine Peso | 8.5200 | 8.0300 | 7.8300 |
| 100 Qatar Riyal | 130.8000 | 124.1700 | 123.7600 |
| 100 Saudi Riyal | 127.1300 | 120.6900 | 120.2700 |
| 100 South Africa Rand | 25.7700 | 23.2800 | 22.9000 |
| 100 Sri Lanka Rupee | 1.5000 | 1.3800 | 1.1700 |
| 100 Swedish Krona | 44.3500 | 40.4100 | 40.2900 |
| 100 Thai Baht | 13.9400 | 12.3600 | 11.9300 |
Gold up
The physical price of gold as at 9.30 am stood at RM272.61 per gramme, down 80 sen from RM273.41 at 5 pm last Friday. – BERNAMA
