By Harizah Hanim Mohamed
KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 (Bernama) -- Investors are expected to shift their focus towards Asian currencies, including the ringgit, next week to mitigate uncertainty clouding the US dollar, said UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd.
Its head of investment research, Mohd Sedek Jantan told Bernama that the market will continuously monitor local and global developments to gauge the performance of the foreign exchange market.
“The ringgit is anticipated to trade within the 4.69 to 4.70 range as the United States Federal Reserve maintains interest rates in the upcoming meeting,” he said.
On the other hand, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit is expected to stay at the RM4.67 level next week, with key data to watch being Malaysia’s June Consumer Price Index (CPI) as investors focus on the impact of the diesel subsidy rationalisation.
“We believe the inflation rate could be slightly higher at 2.1 per cent from 2.0 per cent previously. Hence, the more reason the overnight policy rate needs to remain steady to strike the right balance between promoting growth and a stable inflation rate,” he added.
During the past week, the exchange rate of the ringgit and the US dollar moved between a high of 4.6625/6660 on July 17 and a low of 4.6840/6875 on July 19.
Before yesterday, the ringgit reached a new six-month high every day since Friday last week.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the ringgit was lower at 4.6840/6875 against the US dollar from 4.6700/6730 a week ago.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of other major currencies.
The local note eased versus the euro to 5.0957/0995 from 5.0838/0870, lower against the British pound to 6.0452/0497 from 6.0481/0520 last Friday, and eased vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 2.9760/9786 from 2.9338/9359 a week earlier.
The ringgit was traded easier against ASEAN currencies.
It declined against the Philippine peso to 8.03/8.04 compared with 8.00/8.00 a week earlier and fell versus the Indonesian rupiah to 289.3/289.7 from 289.1/289.5.
The ringgit fell vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.4833/4862 from 3.4768/4793 and went down versus the Thai baht to 12.9075/9221 from 12.9023/9160 last Friday.
-- BERNAMA
