Ringgit opens higher amid cautious sentiments

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar on Wednesday amid cautious sentiments due to the current global economic development, said an analyst.

At 8 am, the local currency strengthened to 4.4675/4755 against the greenback, compared with Tuesday’s close of 4.4705/4750.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said markets are still wary about the impending United States (US) President-elect Donald Trump’s second term in the White House, the current geopolitical situation and the impact on economic prospects for 2025 and beyond.

“Market sentiments appear to focus on the geopolitical developments, especially the military conflicts between Ukraine and Russia, which resulted in the US Treasury yield falling to as low as 4.33 per cent last night before rising back to 4.40 per cent.

“Similarly, the US Dollar Index (DXY) rose to a high of 106.81 points before settling at around 106.21 points,“ he told Bernama.

On that note, he said trading of the USD/MYR would continue to remain in cautious mode, although, from the technical analysis viewpoint, the ringgit is in a highly oversold position which makes it an attractive entry point as the US Federal Reserve is likely to cut rates in the near term.

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

It depreciated against the British pound to 5.6710/6812 from 5.6449/6506 at the close on Tuesday and declined against the euro to 4.7387/7472 from 4.7150/7198 yesterday, but improved against the Japanese yen to 2.8871/8926 from 2.9078/9109 previously.

At the same time, the local unit traded mixed against regional currencies.

It rose against the Philippines’ peso to 7.59/7.61 from 7.60/7.61 at Tuesday’s close and strengthened against the Indonesian rupiah to 281.9/282.5 from 282.1/282.5 yesterday.

Conversely, it had weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.3412/3477 from 3.3345/3381 yesterday and slipped against the Thai baht to 12.9388/9728 from 12.9201/9384 previously.