Ringgit Ends Higher On Positive Economic Data

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KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit reversed its downtrend to end the week marginally higher against the US dollar, driven by positive macroeconomic data that provided support for the local currency, an economist said.Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Abdul Rashid noted that Malaysia’s inflation rate continued to decelerate to 1.9% in September.
In addition, the advance gross domestic product (GDP) estimates for the third quarter of 2023 (Q3 2023) came in at 3.3% from 2.9% in the second quarter of 2023 (Q2 2023).
“In that sense, the Malaysian economy is fairly stable despite the uncertainties over the foreign exchange markets and external demand,” he told Bernama.
Nevertheless, he said market players will continue to pay close attention to the ongoing geopolitical conflict in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes opined that the US dollar has been in an overbought position, which saw significant gains from its recent robust economic data.
“The greenback may not have much room for further appreciation, and this could ease the pressure on Asian currencies,” he added.
At 6pm, the local currency rose to 4.7655/4.7700 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.7680/4.7710.
At the close, the ringgit was traded mostly lower versus a basket of major currencies.
It slipped against the British pound to 5.7777/5.7831 from 5.7712/5.7748 at the close yesterday and depreciated vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0462/5.0510 from 5.0274/5.0305, but was higher against the yen at 3.1781/3.1813 from 3.1821/3.1843 previously.
Conversely, the local note was traded mostly higher against other Asian currencies.
The ringgit appreciated against the Thai baht to 13.0504/13.0681 from 13.0716/13.0849 yesterday and strengthened versus the Indonesian rupiah to 300.1/300.7 from 301.4/301.8 previously.
It weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.4731/3.4767 from 3.4702/3.4726 and was flat vis-a-vis the Philippine peso at 8.38/8.40 compared to 8.38/8.39 previously. - FMT

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