Ringgit Rises Against Greenback, Major Currencies Ahead US PCE Data

By Abdul Hamid A Rahman

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 (Bernama) -- The ringgit ended marginally higher against the greenback on Thursday as improved market sentiment emerged ahead of the release of the US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation data on Friday.

The PCE price index measures the prices paid by American consumers for goods and services and is the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) preferred gauge of inflation.

At 6 pm, the local note climbed to 4.2085/2120 against the greenback from Wednesday’s close of 4.2120/2170.

However, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the market remained cautious as persistent US inflation concerns would continue to justify the Fed’s restrictive monetary stance. “The cautious tone adopted by the Fed chairman signalled that the US central bank is unlikely to ease its monetary policy aggressively,” he told Bernama.

Hence, he said the ringgit traded within a narrow range against the US dollar today, oscillating between RM4.2050 and RM4.2170.

At the close, the ringgit traded higher against a basket of major currencies.

It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.8283/8308 from 2.8400/8436, gained against the British pound to 5.6600/6647 from 5.6761/6828, and bounced against the euro to 4.9429/9470 from 4.9567/9626 previously.

The local note was also higher against ASEAN currencies.

It appreciated against the Thai baht to 13.0959/1133 from 13.1572/1781, improved versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2662/2692 from 3.2743/2784, and climbed against the Indonesian rupiah to 251.2/251.5 from 252.4/252.8. It jumped against the Philippine peso to 7.24/7.25 compared with 7.33/7.34 yesterday.

-- BERNAMA