Ringgit Opens Slightly Lower Against Us Dollar

By Siti Radziah Hamzah

KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 (Bernama) -- The ringgit was slightly lower against the US dollar in the morning amid muted demand for the domestic unit after the recent gains.   

At 8.05 am, the ringgit declined to 4.6650/6700 against the greenback from Thursday’s close of 4.6600/6625. 

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit would be traded at the current level against the US dollar as expectations remain for the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

He noted that US economic growth for the second quarter of 2024 came in higher than expected at 2.8 per cent versus consensus estimates of 2.0 per cent and higher than 1.4 per cent in the prior quarter.

He added that initial jobless claims were also lower at 235,000 last week compared to the consensus forecast of 237,000.

“While data points are still holding up, tonight's releases would be much more important with personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price inflation expected to clock in lower at 2.4 per cent in June compared to 2.6 per cent in May. Similarly, the core PCE would decelerate further to 2.5 per cent from 2.6 per cent previously,” said Mohd Afzanizam. 

Meanwhile, the local note was mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

The local currency appreciated against the Japanese yen at 3.0363/0398 from Thursday’s close of 3.0598/0616, strengthened against the British pound to 5.9978/6.0042 from 6.0039/0072 but fell vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0629/0684 from 5.0570/0597 yesterday. 

However, the ringgit is mostly lower against ASEAN currencies.  

The domestic unit went up against the Thai baht to 12.8789/8991 against Thursday’s 12.8875/9005 and eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.4733/4773 from Thursday’s 3.4714/4735. 

Against the rupiah, the local currency slipped to 287.0/287.5 from 286.7/287.0 and against the peso, to 7.96/7.97 from Thursday’s 7.95/7.96

-- BERNAMA