By Siti Radziah Hamzah
KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 (Bernama) -- The ringgit closed higher against the US dollar for the third consecutive day as the greenback’s safe-haven status weakened due to a mix of slowing United States (US) economic data, tariff uncertainty, and unpredictable policymaking, prompting traders to look elsewhere, said an analyst.
At 6 pm, the domestic unit rose to 4.4230/4270 against the US dollar from 4.4270/4320 on Wednesday’s close.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes noted that the US dollar remained on the back foot for now.
“Unless the US economy experiences an unexpected surge that significantly shocks the markets, the path of least resistance appears lower over the short term,” he told Bernama.
Innes said the broad US dollar selloff is fuelling strength across the Asian foreign exchange market, with the ringgit gaining ground.
“As traders trim long dollar positions, regional currencies continue to firm up,” he noted.
On the policy front, Innes said Bank Negara Malaysia’s decision to keep its policy rate steady at 3.00 per cent was a clear demonstration of patience and prudence.
"With inflation contained and growth remaining steady, there is no urgency to adjust rates— a measured move to preserve policy flexibility for future challenges,” he added.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded lower against major currencies.
It was lower against the British pound at 5.6964/7015 from 5.6825/6889 on Wednesday, slipped versus the euro to 4.7773/7816 from 4.7409/7462 and fell vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 2.9940/9969 from 2.9614/9647 previously.
The local currency traded mixed against ASEAN currencies.
It eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.3186/3218 from 3.3126/3166 but went up against the Thai baht to 13.0939/1124 from 13.1545/1756.
The ringgit increased against the Indonesian rupiah at Thursday’s close of 270.6/271.0 from 271.3/271.8 and was almost unchanged against the Philippine peso at 7.71/7.73 from 7.72/7.73 yesterday.
-- BERNAMA
