Ringgit Stages Rebound To End Higher Against US Dollar

By Zarul Effendi Razali

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 (Bernama) -- The ringgit rebounded from recent losses to close higher against the US dollar on Tuesday.

At 6 pm, the ringgit bounced to 4.4850/4900 against the greenback from Monday’s close of 4.5090/5135.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid noted that from a technical standpoint, the ringgit is oversold, which might have enticed traders to buy the local currency.

“Also, the US Dollar Index (DXY) has continued to retreat to below 108 points and is currently hovering around 107.905 points. Still, market sentiments remain edgy as to how Trump 2.0 economic policies will look like, especially on import tariffs by the United States and how this would translate into inflation and the US Federal Reserve’s reaction (to it),” he told Bernama.

The ringgit closed mostly lower against other major currencies. 

It strengthened versus the Japanese yen to 2.8458/8492 from Monday’s close of 2.8583/8614 but weakened against the British pound to 5.6341/6403 from 5.6250/6306 and fell vis-a-vis the euro to 4.6756/6808 from 4.6695/6742.

The local note traded higher against ASEAN currencies.

It climbed against the Thai baht to 13.0045/0258 from 13.0194/0308 at the previous close and was higher vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah at 277.7/278.2 compared with 278.3/278.7 previously.

The ringgit went up marginally versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2983/3022 from 3.2989/3025 and appreciated against the Philippine peso to 7.71/7.72 from 7.73/7.75 on Monday.

-- BERNAMA