KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit finished the week with a rally, surging 1.59 per cent against the greenback as a softer US inflation reading and relaxation of China's COVID-19 curbs bolstered the local currency.
At 6 pm, the local note jumped to 4.6200/6250 against the US dollar from Thursday’s close of 4.6950/6990.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the ringgit's ascent can continue if China adopts a less hardline position on rising COVID-19 cases there.
"Initial signals are encouraging, with China reducing quarantine times for entering travellers, a significant signal that contradicts prior (reaction) to the COVID-19 waves.
"Investors are growing more sensitive to the reopening news (in China) than the lockdowns, so hope springs eternal that there is finally some room for fine-tuning Covid controls in China,” he told Bernama.
US consumer prices cooled in October, with the consumer price index slowing to 7.7 per cent compared to the 8.0 per cent anticipated by economists. However, the inflation rate remained at a decades-high level.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded easier against a basket of major currencies.
It reversed against the Singapore dollar to 3.3527/3568 from 3.3459/3490 on Thursday and slipped vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.3047/3088 from 3.2048/2077.
The local currency also weakened against the euro to 4.7471/7522 from 4.6781/6821 at yesterday's close and declined versus the British pound to 5.4322/4381 from 5.3387/3432 previously. - Bernama
