Ringgit Strengthens Further Vs Us Dollar, Touching 4.66

By Siti Noor Afera Abu

KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 (Bernama) -- The ringgit has continued to strengthen against the US dollar, boosted by buying interest amidst expectations of interest rate cuts by major economies.

At 6 pm, the ringgit rose to 4.6600/6625 versus the US dollar from Wednesday’s closing of 4.6705/6735.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the anticipation of interest rate cuts by major economies has resulted in better demand for ringgit as the negative interest rate differentials with the major central banks are likely to narrow.

He noted that this week, the Bank of Canada has cut its interest by 25 basis points, while the People’s Bank of China also announced a surprise 20 basis points rate cut on its one-year medium-term lending facility today.

“The next hurdle would be the United States (US) Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting next week.

“It appears that September would be the timeline for the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to start reducing the Fed Fund Rate,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, the local note traded mostly firmer against a basket of major currencies.

The ringgit appreciated against the British pound to 6.0039/0072 from 6.0291/0330 at the close on Wednesday and increased vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0570/0597 from 5.0633/0665 yesterday, but retreated versus the Japanese yen to 3.0598/0616 from 3.0173/0196 previously.

At the same time, the local note had also strengthened versus ASEAN currencies, as it appreciated against the Indonesian rupiah to 286.7/287.0 from 287.9/288.3 yesterday and inched up against the Singapore dollar to 3.4714/4735 from 3.4727/4752 previously.

The local currency also rose vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 12.8875/9005 from 12.9133/9266 at Wednesday’s close and was firmer against the Philippines’ peso at 7.95/7.96 from 7.99/8.00 previously.

-- BERNAMA