Ringgit Eases Vs US Dollar, Mixed Against Other Currencies

By Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 (Bernama) -- The ringgit eased against the US dollar at Thursday’s close, weighed by renewed strength in the greenback as global markets shifted to a more defensive stance.

At 6 pm, the local note slid to 3.9440/9535 against the greenback from Wednesday’s close of 3.9305/9345.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said expectations that the US Federal Reserve will remain cautious on near-term rate cuts, amid lingering inflation concerns, have further supported the dollar’s resilience. "Heightened volatility across US equities and precious metals reinforced safe-haven demand for the dollar. Notably, the Asia Dollar Index also declined, signalling that the pressure was broad-based rather than Malaysia-specific," he told Bernama.

Mohd Sedek said that, in this environment, regional and risk-sensitive currencies, including the ringgit, experienced mild but widespread depreciation.

Echoing Mohd Sedek’s view, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the local note weakened against the greenback as the US Dollar Index (DXY) gained momentum, amid signs of profit-taking following mixed US economic data.

At the time of writing, the Asia Dollar Index stood at 92.3532, down 0.10 per cent, while the US DXY rose to 97.87, up 0.27 per cent.

At the close, the ringgit traded mostly higher against other major currencies.

It gained versus the Japanese yen to 2.5068/5130 from 2.5091/5118 and appreciated vis-à-vis the British pound to 5.3496/3625 from 5.3887/394, but it slipped against the euro to 4.6460/6572 from 4.6443/6490 at Wednesday’s close.

The local note traded mixed against its ASEAN peers.

It strengthened versus the Thai baht to 12.3955/4320 from 12.4206/4391 and firmed against the Indonesian rupiah to 234.1/234.8 from 234.2/234.6.

However, it declined vis-à-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.0943/1020 from 3.0912/0946, and fell against the Philippine peso to 6.72/6.74 from 6.66/6.67 previously.

-- BERNAMA