RINGGIT ALMOST FLAT AGAINST US DOLLAR AT EARLY TRADE

By Anas Abu Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 (Bernama) -- The ringgit opened slightly lower against the US dollar in early trade today as recent economic data from the United States (US) provided support to the greenback, said an analyst.

At 9.05 am, the ringgit stood at 4.7070/7130 against the greenback compared to Friday's close of 4.7065/7110.

The market was closed yesterday in conjunction with the Awal Muharam holiday.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar is likely to be well supported for the day in light of the outturn in the Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data, which came in better-than-expected for June.  

He opined this will lead market participants to focus on what Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell would say in his testimony to the US Congress this week.

“It appears that the Fed chairman is expected to maintain its restrictive stance following the higher than anticipated NFP in June,” he told Bernama, adding that the ringgit is expected to stay in a narrow range today.

Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

The local note appreciated against the Japanese yen to 2.9154/9293 from Friday’s 2.9286/9315.

However, it opened lower at 6.0283/0359 against the British pound from 6.0182/0240 last week and fell vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0958/1023 from 5.0953/1001 previously.

The ringgit traded mixed in the early session against its ASEAN peers.

It edged up versus the Singapore dollar to 3.4869/4916 from 3.4876/4912 at Friday’s close but eased against the Indonesian rupiah to 289.4/290.0 from 289.1/289.5 and slipped to 12.9061/9268 against the Thai baht from 12.8646/8818 previously.

The local note was unchanged against the Philippine peso at 8.04/8.05.

-- BERNAMA