Ringgit opens marginally higher against US$

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit rebounded to open marginally higher against the US dollar today on renewed buying interest despite the continuous strengthening of the greenback, said a dealer.

At 9 am, the local currency rose to 4.4830/4860 against the greenback from yesterday's close of 4.4885/4915.

ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the US dollar is currently in a bullish mode following statements by United States Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, who reaffirmed that the interest rate for the US dollar should remain high for some time.

"From a technical point of view, the US dollar is in an all-time high region against the ringgit and considering the broad bullish movement of the past few months, it seems unlikely that the USD/MYR will be able to break above 4.50 without first making a major retracement to the downside,” he said.

On the home front, Diniz said Malaysia’s consumer price index (CPI) data released yesterday showed that inflation in the country was in line with investors’ expectations at 4.4 per cent.

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

The local unit was lower against the Singapore dollar at 3.2125/2151 from yesterday's close of 3.2100/2126, fell against the British pound to 5.2518/2553 from 5.2439/2474 and declined against the euro to 4.4843/4873 from 4.4705/4735 yesterday,

However, it appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.2359/2385 from 3.2385/2409 on Monday. = Bernama