Ringgit extends rally against greenback for fourth straight day

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit continued to rally for the fourth straight day against the US dollar as such appreciation has been long overdue, considering that the ringgit has been in oversold condition for quite some time, said an economist.

At 6 pm, the local note surged 545 percentage in points (pips) to 4.5255/5280 against the greenback compared with 4.5800/5845 at Thursday’s close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said that based on the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER), the ringgit is still undervalued, suggesting appreciation for ringgit is quite likely.

"The prevailing US dollar/ringgit rate has surpassed the support level of RM4.5491, and currently, the next support level is located at RM4.4872,” he told Bernama.

At home, the ringgit traded higher against a basket of major currencies at today’s close.

It strengthened vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0799/0827 from 5.1168/1218 at Thursday’s close, rose against the British pound to 5.9338/9371 from 5.9861/9919 and was up versus the Japanese yen to 3.2659/2679 from 3.3069/3103.

The local note also traded higher against other Asean currencies.

The ringgit rose against the Thai baht to 13.0689/0814 from yesterday’s close of 13.2481/2673 and inched up against the Singapore dollar at 3.4263/4287 from 3.4553/4590 previously.

The ringgit climbed against the Indonesian rupiah to 302.5/302.8 from 305.9/306.4 and gained against the Philippine peso at 8.31/8.33 from 8.40/8.41. - Bernama