Ringgit Ends Lower Ahead Of BNM's MPC Meeting

By Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- The ringgit ended on a low note on Tuesday as market sentiments remained cautious, with traders bracing for Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Thursday to gauge the latest economic assessments.

At 6 pm, the local note eased to 4.2270/2350 against the US dollar compared with last Friday’s close of 4.2230/2275.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid told Bernama that many market participants view BNM’s preemptive Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) cut in July as sufficient, with the central bank seen as comfortable keeping rates at the current level.

He said market sentiment was also guarded ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Sept 16-17, as the odds of a 25-basis-point cut remain elevated.

“The US dollar-ringgit pair was seen oscillating between RM4.22 and RM4.23. Compared with Friday’s closing, the ringgit depreciated 0.1 per cent to RM4.2295,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said regional currencies were mixed, with local factors largely driving market sentiment.

“For instance, the Indonesian rupiah depreciated to IDR16,560 per US dollar yesterday morning, prompting Bank Indonesia to intervene in the foreign exchange market amid social unrest in an effort to bring the currency closer to IDR16,300 per US dollar,” he added.

At the close, the ringgit settled mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.8451/8507 from 2.8708/8741 last Friday, rose against the British pound to 5.6638/6745 from 5.6833/6894 last week and advanced against the euro to 4.9194/9287 from 4.9291/9343 previously.

At the same time, the local note was mixed against other ASEAN currencies, rising against the Singapore dollar to 3.2808/2873 from 3.2859/2899 last Friday and firmed against the Philippines’ peso to 7.35/7.37 from 7.39/7.40 previously.

However, the local note depreciated against the Thai baht to 13.0459/0762 from 13.0327/0519 last week and slipped against the Indonesian rupiah to 257.5/258.1 from 255.9/256.3 previously.

-- BERNAMA