Ringgit firmer as Malaysia’s Q3 GDP growth beats expectations

The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar on Monday, supported by Malaysia’s stronger-than-expected advance GDP estimate for the third quarter of 2026 (Q3 2026) of 5.3%.

At 8am, the ringgit was quoted at 4.0790/4.0855 against the greenback compared with Friday’s close of 4.0795/4.0835.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the stronger economic growth in 3Q 2026 could reinforce expectations of a potential normalisation of monetary policy.

The department of statistics Malaysia, in its advance GDP estimates released on Friday, reported that the economy grew by 5.3% in the third quarter, following 6% growth in the preceding quarter.

Meanwhile, concerns over the valuations of artificial intelligence-related stocks could prompt traders and investors to seek safe-haven assets, including US Treasury bonds, potentially lending support to the US dollar.

“Therefore, the ringgit-US dollar could trade in the range between RM4.07 and RM4.08 today,” he told Bernama.

At the opening, the ringgit strengthened against the euro to 4.5791/4.5864 from 4.5911/4.5956 at Friday’s close and edged up against the British pound to 5.4393/5.4480 from 5.4396/5.4449. However, it weakened against the Japanese yen to 2.5849/2.5892 from 2.5831/2.5895.

Against its Asean peers, the ringgit also traded mostly higher.

It edged up against the Indonesian rupiah to 226.2/226.7 from 226.3/226.6 and the Philippine peso to 6.47/6.49 from 6.48/6.49.

The local currency also strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.1882/3.1935 from 3.1889/3.1922 at Friday’s close and the Thai baht to 12.2013/12.2320 from 12.2101/12.2268.