Ringgit retreats slightly as dollar strengthens

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit reversed yesterday’s gains to open slightly lower against the US dollar this morning as sentiment for the greenback strengthened, an economist said.

At 9.02 am, the local note stood at 4.3815/3855 versus the greenback compared with Wednesday's close of 4.3755/3785.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid expects the ringgit to remain sideways as inflation data from the United State (US) continues to remain at an elevated level with the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) print came in at 8.3 per cent for April 2022 against 8.1 per cent consensus.

"This would mean the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will be hawkish and likely to be aggressive in their monetary tightening measures,” he told Bernama.

Consequently, the US Dollar Index (DXY) has gone up further to 103.981 points, he added.

Bank Negara Malaysia on Wednesday increased the overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25 basis points to 2.00 per cent after its third Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting this year.

The central bank said the sustained reopening of the global economy and the improvement in labour market conditions have continued to support the recovery of economic activity.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

The local note appreciated slightly against the Singapore dollar to 3.1526/1559 from Wednesday's close of 3.1583/1607, increased marginally against the euro to 4.6102/6144 from 4.6218/6250, and rose vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.3638/3687 from 5.4147/4184.

However, the Japanese yen decreased slightly to 3.3758/3792 from 3.3723/3748 yesterday. - Bernama