Ringgit Opens Near Five-year High Vs US Dollar After BNM Holds OPR

By Siti Noor Afera Abu

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 (Bernama) -- The ringgit opened near a five-year high against the US dollar on Friday after Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kept the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 2.75 per cent.

The local currency was at around 4.02 per US dollar at the start of trade, a level last seen on Jan 21, 2021, when it was quoted at 4.0280/0320.

At 8 am, the ringgit strengthened to 4.0285/0440 against the greenback, compared with Thursday’s close of 4.0370/0415.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the MPC’s decision reinforced expectations of policy stability, supporting the local currency.

He said market sentiment has improved after United States President Donald Trump softened his stance on Greenland.

In addition, US Personal Consumption Expenditures inflation rose as expected to 2.8 per cent in December from 2.7 per cent previously, reinforcing expectations that the US Federal Reserve would keep interest rates unchanged next week, he said.

“Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index fell 0.48 per cent to 98.287 points, while spot gold prices continued to hit record highs at US$4,939.64 per ounce. As such, the ringgit could appreciate further today amid dollar weakness,” he told Bernama.

In early trade, the ringgit traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.

It rose against the Japanese yen to 2.5416/5516 from 2.5440/5469 on Thursday, but slipped against the British pound to 5.4381/4590 from 5.4273/4334 and eased against the euro to 4.7347/7529 from 4.7205/7257.

Against regional peers, the local currency also traded mixed.

It strengthened versus the Philippine peso to 6.81/6.84 from 6.82/6.83, was little changed against the Indonesian rupiah at 238.4/239.4 from 238.9/239.3, but weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.1458/1581 from 3.1441/1478 and slipped versus the Thai baht to 12.9592/13.0187 from 12.8587/8792.

-- BERNAMA