Ringgit opens stronger against US dollar

The ringgit opened stronger against the US dollar on Monday, supported by a decline in the US Dollar Index (DXY) last Friday, said Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid.

As of 8am, the ringgit was trading at 4.5010/4.5100 against the greenback, up from 4.5055/4.5100 at Friday’s close.

The DXY slipped to 107.621 points after exceeding 108 points last Friday, he said.

“The softer-than-expected November PCE inflation, which eased to 2.4%, combined with concerns over a potential US government shutdown, prompted traders to take profits on the US dollar.

“Given this, the ringgit could perform well against the US dollar today, as last week’s sell-off was rather excessive,” he said, Bernama reported.

The ringgit, however, weakened against other major currencies.

It edged lower against the Japanese yen to 2.8749/2.8809 from 2.8747/2.8779 on Friday and fell against the British pound to 5.6578/5.6691 from 5.6328/5.6384. It also declined against the euro, trading at 4.6959/4.7053 compared with 4.6776/4.6823 previously.

It performed mediocrely against ASEAN currencies.

Depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.3201/3.3277 from 3.3146/3.3181, the ringgit eased against the Thai baht to 13.1199/13.1617 from 13.0670/13.0861.

It also strengthened against the Indonesian rupiah to 277.3/278.1 from 277.7/278.1 and rose against the Philippine peso to 7.65/7.67 from 7.66/7.67.