Upward Bias For Ringgit Likely Next Week With US Inflation Data In Focus

By Anas Abu Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 (Bernama) -- The ringgit is expected to see positive momentum next week, trending in upward bias against the US dollar and potentially pushing towards its support level, analysts said.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid opined that the ringgit is likely to attempt breaking its immediate support level of 4.3000, should the greenback continue to retreat over weaker employment data.

The United States (US) nonfarm payroll (NFP) data on Friday only came in at 142,000 jobs in August, falling short of consensus expectation of 165,000 jobs, albeit an increase from 114,000 jobs recorded in July.

"We expect the ringgit to continue demonstrating a healthy trend as the NFP data came in lower-than-expected, which is seen as a contributing factor to the ringgit’s performance.

"Nevertheless, the market will also focus on key data points next week -- US Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) data to assess the inflation, as well as Japan’s second quarter 2024 gross domestic product (GDP) and China’s CPI, trade and new loans," he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes noted that as the US employment market is cooling down, it could provide support to the ringgit.

"Next week’s fate of the ringgit lies squarely with the NFP print, especially if it drops below the 150,000 mark (lower than the consensus 165,000), that is going to scream bullish for the ringgit," he said.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the ringgit depreciated to 4.3275/3330 against the US dollar from 4.3185/3225 a week ago.

The local currency also traded lower against other major currencies.

It went down against the euro, closing at 4.8087/8148 from 4.7862/7906 last week, weakened against the British pound to 5.7010/7083 versus 5.6939/6992 and fell vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.0296/0337 from 2.9754/9784 a week earlier.

The ringgit also traded easier against ASEAN currencies.

It declined vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.3327/3372 from 3.3158/3191 and moved lower against the Indonesian rupiah at 281.3/281.9 against 279.3/279.8 previously.

It edged down against the Thai baht to 12.9087/9305 from 12.7540/7726 and decreased against the Philippine peso to 7.74/7.75 from 7.69/7.70 a week earlier.

-- BERNAMA