Ringgit Closes Higher, Mirroring Regional Trend

By Abdul Hamid A Rahman

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 (Bernama) -- The ringgit closed marginally higher against the greenback in the month's final trading day, reflecting broader strength in some regional currencies.

At 6 pm, the local currency edged up to 4.4425/4495 against the US dollar, compared to Thursday’s close of 4.4440/4490.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the ringgit strengthened heading into the weekend, reflecting favourable movements in other Asian currencies.

“This (Asian forex) movement was driven by the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) decision not to challenge market expectations of an impending rate cut, which cast a slightly bearish tone over the dollar.

“Additional support came from a stabilised US Treasury market, marked by lower volatility, following President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of market-savvy Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary and his recent cordial negotiations with the Mexican president over border issues,” he told Bernama.

The rise in Asian currencies today was led by the Japanese yen, which jumped more than 1% against the US dollar to a six-week high on Friday after faster-than-expected inflation in Tokyo supported bets for a Bank of Japan interest rate hike next month.

The ringgit traded lower against a basket of major currencies.

It weakened versus the British pound to 5.6384/6473 from 5.6217/6280, slipped against the euro to 4.6899/6973 from 4.6800/6852 and eased against the Japanese yen to 2.9589/9638 from 2.9258/9293, at Thursday’s close.

The local unit also traded lower against ASEAN currencies.

It dropped against the Singapore dollar to 3.3146/3200 versus 3.3056/3095, fell against the Indonesian rupiah to 280.2/280.8 from 279.9/280.5 and went down versus the Thai baht to 12.9459/9738 from 12.8999/9211.

It dipped against the Philippine peso to 7.58/7.59 from 7.57/7.58.

-- BERNAMA