Ringgit rises against major currencies, slips vs US dollar

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit strengthened against most major currencies but weakened against the US dollar at Friday's opening, as investors remained cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) December policy meeting.

At 8am, the local currency eased to 4.0780/0840 against the greenback from 4.0765/0805 at Thursday's close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US Dollar Index continued to climb, reaching 103.198 points, amid expectations that the Fed could tighten monetary policy at its meeting next month.

He said Brent crude oil prices also rose 3.27 per cent to US$95.79 a barrel, suggesting that inflationary pressures could remain elevated.

"However, the increase in initial jobless claims to 200,000 last week and a 5.5 per cent month-on-month contraction in existing home sales in the US were largely overlooked by traders, as expectations of a Fed rate hike continued to dominate market sentiment.

"Against this backdrop, the ringgit is expected to trade between RM4.07 and RM4.08 against the US dollar today," he told Bernama.

The ringgit traded higher against a basket of major currencies.

It strengthened against the euro to 4.5054/5120 from 4.5225/5269 at Thursday's close, while appreciating against the British pound to 5.3952/4031 from 5.4103/4156. It also gained against the Japanese yen to 2.5503/5543 from 2.5524/5551.

Against its Asean peers, the ringgit traded mixed.

It strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.1684/1733 from 3.1726/1760 at Thursday's close and appreciated against the Thai baht to 12.0348/0629 from 12.0678/0836.

However, it was little changed against the Indonesian rupiah at 223.5/224.0 compared with 223.5/223.8 at Thursday's close, and remained flat against the Philippine peso at 6.40/6.41.