Ringgit rises against greenback as equity market recovers

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit rebounded to open higher versus the US dollar today, as the greenback retreated amid improvement in the equity market, an analyst said.

At 9.00 am, the local currency was trading at 4.2110/2155 against the greenback from 4.2160/2190 at Tuesday’s close.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the United States (US) equities closed higher last night despite more US Federal Reserve (Fed) officials were in favour of a tighter monetary policy this year.

"In a way, it was a risk-on mode with the US Dollar Index (DXY) falling slightly yesterday," he told Bernama.

According to reports, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard have suggested that monetary policy accommodation would need to be removed and it has to be done at a faster pace.

Hence, Mohd Afzanizam said the ringgit should continue to linger around RM4.21 today.

At the opening, the ringgit was traded mostly mixed against a basket of major currencies.

It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 3.4764/4804 from 3.4880/4908 at Tuesday's close.

The local unit fell against the British pound to 5.5880/5940 from 5.5580/5619 and declined against the euro to 4.6426/6476 from 4.6346/6379 previously.

However, the ringgit was unchanged against the Singapore dollar at 3.1027/1063 today compared to 3.1027/1052 at yesterday's close. - Bernama