Ringgit unchanged despite US FOMC jitters

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened unchanged against the US dollar, as the market jittered in anticipation of the outcome on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting slated for Dec 14 and 15, an analyst said.

At 9 am, the local note stood at 4.2100/2135 against the greenback from 4.2100/2150 at Friday’s close.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said all eyes would be on the FOMC meeting, whereby the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) will share its latest quarterly forecast.

"In the third quarter of 2021, the Fed revised up its 2022 gross domestic product and the Core Personal Consumption Expenditure inflation to 3.8 per cent and 2.3 per cent, respectively,” he told Bernama.

As such, he expects the ringgit to trade in a narrow range of between RM4.21 to RM4.22 today.

At the opening bell, the ringgit was traded lower against other major currencies.

The local note depreciated against the euro to 4.7607/7646 from 4.7497/7554 at Friday’s close and fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0865/0895 from 3.0815/0854, eased versus the Japanese yen to 3.7083/7117 from 3.7034/7081, and declined against the British pound to 5.5791/5837 from 5.5576/5642 previously. - Bernama