Ringgit Opens Flat As Market Awaits Direction

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KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit started the day flat against the US dollar as investors adopted a wait-and-see stance following Bank Negara Malaysia’s recent decision to hold interest rates steady, which weighed on sentiment.At 8am, the ringgit stood at 4.4200/4.4275, almost unchanged against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.4200/4.4235.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the technical charts were still indicating that the USD/MYR was broadly neutral, suggesting that the ringgit could maintain its range-bound trade.
“As such, the USD/MYR could range between RM4.41 and RM4.42 as the market awaits the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data print which will be published tomorrow night (Malaysian time),” he added.
He noted that consensus are pencilling headline and core US CPI to be at 2.9% and 3.2% in February from 3.0% and 3.3% in January.
“Lower inflation would be positive for the ringgit as the US Federal Reserve might be keen to cut the interest rate to support the economy,” he added.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It fell versus the Japanese yen to 3.0052/3.0105 from 3.0013/3.0039 at Monday’s close, but appreciated against the British pound to 5.6908/5.7004 from 5.7080/5.7125 and improved vis-a-vis the euro to 4.7908/4.7990 from 4.7992/4.8030 previously.
The local currency, however, traded mixed against Asean currencies.
It rose against the Thai baht to 13.0272/13.0585 from Monday’s closing of 13.0777/13.0943 and went up versus the Singapore dollar at 3.3156/3.3215 from yesterday’s closing of 3.3211/3.3242.
The ringgit was almost unchanged against the Indonesian rupiah at 270.0/270.6 from 270.0/270.3 and the Philippine peso at 7.70/7.72 from 7.70/7.71 previously. - FMT

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