Ringgit Ends Mostly Firmer Against Major, Regional Currencies Ahead Of MPC Meeting

By Danni Haizal Danial Donald

KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 (Bernama) -- The ringgit ended firmly against most major currencies and regional peers ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting as its decision is expected to play a critical role in setting the market tone going forward.

However, it eased against the US dollar at 6pm today to 3.9600/9635 from 3.9540/9575 on Monday’s close.

According to research firms, BNM is anticipated to maintained the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 2.75 per cent at its MPC meeting on Thursday.

This is following Malaysia’s advance first-quarter gross domestic product growth forecast of 5.3 per cent showed that the country’s economy is resilient despite the unsteady global situation.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid expects the local note to be trading at a narrow range in the near term following the MPC meeting on May 7.

“We view markets sentiments will continue to remain cautious as investors were perplexed on whether global central banks benchmark interest rate should be raised or cut.

“There are certain jurisdictions such as in Australia, the Philippines and Singapore which have tightened their monetary stance. At the same time, there is also valid concern on global growth prospects which may necessitates easing monetary policy stance,” he told Bernama.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said continued equity inflows into Malaysia’s technology and semiconductor sectors have boosted local assets supporting the ringgit.

He said investors’ appetite tied to artificial intelligence (AI) themes has provide an underlying buffer to local assets.

“However, renewed escalation in the United States-Iran conflict has weakened risk sentiment and strengthened the US dollar, while briefly pushed Brent crude oil prices toward US$114 per barrel.

“Overall, the ringgit remains influenced by external factors, including oil price volatility and US dollar strength, but (ringgit) continues to show resilience due to supportive domestic equity flows,” he told Bernama.

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

It edged up against the Japanese yen to  2.5138/5163 from 2.5186/5210 at Monday’s close, rose vis-a-vis the euro to 4.6288/6329 from 4.6329/6370 previously but inched down versus the British pound to 5.3622/3670 from 5.3612/3660 yesterday.

The local currency was also mostly higher against regional peers.

It inched up against the Singapore dollar to 3.1013/1042 from 3.1019/1049 at Monday’s close, appreciated versus the Thai baht to 12.1064/1223 from 12.1460/1631, gained vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 227.2/227.5 from 227.3/227.6 yesterday, but eased against the Philippine peso to  6.43/6.44 from 6.42/6.43 previously.

-- BERNAMA