Bank Negara Malaysia's international reserves rose by US$600mil to US$103.3bil as at July 15, 2019 from two weeks prior.
KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened flat against the US dollar today on a lack of fresh leads, with most traders remaining on the sidelines due to mixed external developments.
At 9am, the ringgit was lower at 4.1460/1490 to the greenback compared with 4.1460/1490 at yesterday's close.
A dealer said the traders are now awaiting today's announcement on the overnight policy rate (OPR) by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
“Economists have predicted that BNM will lower interest rates amid the economic slowdown,” he said.
At its meeting on March 5, BNM's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to maintain the OPR at 3.25 per cent.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies, except the Singapore dollar in rising to 3.0409/0436 from 3.0412/0440 at close yesterday.
It fell against the Japanese yen to 3.7439/7476 from 3.7429/7466, declined against the euro to 4.6435/6473 from 4.6406/6444 and weakened against the British pound to 5.4333/4389 from 5.4317/4373. - Bernama
Ambank research expects Bank Negara to maintain its OPR following today's decision announcement, with a rate cut to take place in July.
"There is a mixed feeling of a rate cut likely to happen in today’s meeting by 25bps though we are of the view it is more likely to take place in the July’s meeting to further digest the potential incoming data.
"As such, we expect MYR to trade between our support level of 4.1251 and 4.1362 while our resistance is pinned at 4.1605 and 4.1719," it said.
It also noted that the Reserve Bank of Australia will be conducting its own monetary policy meeting later today with markets heavily pricing for a 25bps cut to its benchmark rate to 1.25%.
Meanwhile, the research house said the market sentiment is expected to remain cautious as investors assess the progress of the US-China trade talks.
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