Ringgit Strengthens To A Near 3-Week High As Optimism Grows Over Trump's Tariff Approach

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 (Bernama) -- The ringgit continued to rise, reaching a nearly three-week high against the US dollar as optimism increases that the new administration under Donald Trump will take a more targeted and gradual approach to implementing higher import tariffs.

At 6 pm, the ringgit strengthened to 4.4165/4200 from 4.4270/4320 at Thursday’s close, leading gains among Asian currencies. The nearest level was 4.3905/3980 on January 28.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd’s chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid told Bernama that financial markets also view Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine positively.

“The ringgit has strengthened by 0.4 per cent against the US dollar from last Friday despite expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will maintain interest rates in the near term, given the strong performance of the US economy and inflation that remains above the 2.0 per cent target.

“If this positive momentum continues, the ringgit is expected to move higher,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against major currencies.  

It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.9346/9371 from 2.9454/9490 but retreated against the British pound to 5.5851/5895 from 5.5833/5896 and slipped against the euro to 4.6236/6273 from 4.6196/6248. 

The ringgit rose against most ASEAN currencies.  

It appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.3021/3049 from 3.3060/3099 and the Thai baht to 13.1354/1528 from 13.1459/1685.  

The local note also advanced against the Indonesian rupiah to 270.7/271.0 from 270.9/271.4 and the Philippine peso to 7.62/7.63 from 7.64/7.65 on Thursday. 

-- BERNAMA