KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar on better buying support as the US Dollar Index (DXY) retreated after recent gains by the greenback.
At 9 am, the local currency climbed to 4.7480/7520 versus the US dollar from yesterday’s closing of 4.7515/7535.
The dollar retreated despite the US Jobs Openings and Labour Turnover (JOLTS) report showing that job openings rose slightly to 8.75 million in February from 8.74 million in the preceding month.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said despite the positive US economic data, the DXY retreated as the greenback was overbought. "From a technical standpoint, the DXY is currently hovering at 62.87 points based on the Relative Strength Index (RSI), a tad lower than the 70 points which marks the overbought territory,” he told Bernama.
He said it seems the market is waiting for the US nonfarm payrolls (NFP) report this Friday for more clues about the US interest rate path. "The general theme still revolves around the US Federal Reserve and its timing for the rate cut,” he added. He sees the USD/MYR lingering around RM4.74 to RM4.75 with the immediate support at RM4.7483.
At the close, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It depreciated against the euro to 5.1126/1170 from 5.1036/1057 at Tuesday’s close and was marginally lower versus the Japanese yen at 3.1328/1356 from 3.1326/1339. However, it inched up vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9687/9737 from 5.9717/9742 previously.
The ringgit was traded mostly higher against Asean currencies.
The local note rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.5124/5158 from 3.5134/5151, edged up vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 298.6/299.0 compared to 298.9/299.1 previously and improved versus the Thai baht to 12.9585/9744 from 12.9659/9771 yesterday.
It was flat versus the Philippine peso at 8.43/8.44 from 8.43/8.44 on Tuesday. - Bernama
