RINGGIT ENDS MARGINALLY HIGHER VERSUS US DOLLAR

By Kisho Kumari Sucedaram

KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 (Bernama) -- The ringgit ended marginally higher against the US dollar today after trading in a narrow range throughout the day, said an analyst. 

At 6 pm, the ringgit traded at 4.7120/7155 against the greenback versus last Friday’s close of 4.7160/7190.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar/ringgit was as low as RM4.7130 during the morning session but went up to as high as RM4.7158 during the afternoon session.

“US dollar versus yen remained in the spotlight as the Japanese currency weakened to 161.80 yen.

“The Japanese government revised its gross domestic product growth downwards from -1.8 per cent to -2.9 per cent in the first quarter this year, suggesting the Bank of Japan may refrain from raising its policy rates soon,” he told Bernama.

In general, he said, the prevailing condition still favours the US dollar and the data points for this week would be quite critical to determine whether the Federal Reserve might resort to more rate cuts this year.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

The local currency appreciated against the Japanese yen to 2.9254/9278 from 2.9345/9365 at last Friday’s close but fell vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9706/9750 from 5.9639/9676 previously and decreased versus the euro to 5.0682/0720 from 5.0494/0526 at the end of last week.

On the other hand, the ringgit was mostly higher against its ASEAN peers.

The ringgit rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.4772/4801 from 3.4792/4816 at Friday’s close, firmed versus the Thai baht to 12.8329/8481 from 12.8508/8646 previously, and strengthened against the Philippine peso to 8.03/8.04 from 8.05/8.06 last Friday.

However, it fell versus the Indonesian rupiah to 288.7/289.0 from 287.9/288.3 previously. 

-- BERNAMA