The ringgit opened almost flat against the US dollar today ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) overnight policy rate (OPR) decision on Thursday, an analyst said.
The local note was trading at 4.6450/6525 against the U.S. dollar by 9 a.m., up from 4.6445/6485 at Friday’s close.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and head of social finance Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said market participants are awaiting policy rate decisions from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Bank of Canada (BoC) and Bank Negara; most of them Interest rates are expected to remain status quo.
“Therefore, the divergence between global monetary policy and the Fed seems likely to give the dollar the upper hand,” he told Bernama.
On this note, he expects the USD/MYR exchange rate to trade between RM4.64 and RM4.66 today.
Meanwhile, the ringgit opened higher against a basket of major currencies.
The local banknote strengthened against the euro to 5.0068/0149 from Friday’s close of 5.0388/0432, against the pound to 5.8508/8603 from 5.8878/8929 last week, and against the yen to 3.1778/1832 from 3.1939/1968 previously. .
Meanwhile, the ringgit was mostly trading higher against other Asean currencies.
The exchange rate against the Singapore dollar rose to 3.4306/4366 from 3.4386/4418 at the close last Friday, the Thai baht rose to 13.2261/2531 from 13.2677/2852 last week, and the Philippine peso strengthened to 8.20/8.21 from 8.21/8.22.
However, it was almost flat against the Indonesian rupiah at 304.7/305.3 from 304.6/305.1 previously.
