Ringgit Opens Little Changed Against US Dollar On Mixed Global Sentiment

By Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 (Bernama) -- The ringgit opened nearly unchanged against the US dollar on Monday, as mixed global sentiment capped gains while investors assessed political developments and major currency moves.

At 8 am, the ringgit traded almost flat at 3.9430/9560 against the greenback, compared with last Friday’s close of 3.9440/9525.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said multiple global factors are shaping foreign exchange markets, and expects the US dollar-ringgit pair to trade between RM3.93 and RM3.95 today.

“We foresee emerging market currencies, including the ringgit, remaining on a positive note amid an improvement in market uncertainty,” he told Bernama.

On external developments, he said the landslide victory by Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Sunday’s election signalled that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is likely to proceed with further economic stimulus measures, a move that could weigh on the Japanese yen.

At the same time, easing tensions between the United States and Iran over the nuclear programme following discussions on Friday has led to lower benchmark Brent crude prices, Mohd Afzanizam added.

He said political developments in the region were also supportive of market sentiment, particularly Thailand’s general election, where the Bhumjaithai Party secured a comfortable margin, pointing to continued political and economic stability in the country.

“In some sense, there is a bit of optimism in the market. However, the weaker yen has contributed to a firmer US Dollar Index (DXY),” he said.

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

It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.5075/5161 from 2.5111/5167 at last Friday’s close, but weakened versus the British pound to 5.3664/3841 from 5.3548/3663 and slipped against the euro to 4.6630/6784 from 4.6508/6608 previously.

The local note was also mostly lower against its ASEAN peers.

The ringgit traded nearly flat against the Indonesian rupiah at 233.6/234.5 from 233.6/234.3 at last Friday’s close, eased vis-à-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.1020/1125 from 3.0965/1034, fell against the Thai baht to 12.5386/5887 from 12.4609/4933 previously, and was flat versus the Philippine peso at 6.73/6.75.

-- BERNAMA