KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit, along with other emerging market currencies, continued to depreciate against the greenback on Thursday as uncertainties over Trump 2.0 policies and their impact on the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy looms large, an economist said.
At 6 pm, the local note slid to 4.4840/4870 against the US dollar compared with Wednesday’s close of 4.4450/4495.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the "bottom line is about the US interest rate decision, ie, whether the Fed will continue to cut rates in 2025, pause or even raise them.”
"This will depend on whether US policies would be inflationary, which could warrant the Fed to remain open to tightening its grip on monetary stance. Hence, the US dollar looks increasingly constructive, leading to weaker emerging market currencies, including the ringgit,” he told Bernama.
At the close, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It depreciated versus the British pound to 5.6750/6787 from 5.6678/6736 at Wednesday’s close and edged down against the Japanese yen to 2.8720/8741 from 2.8692/8723 but perked up vis-a-vis the euro to 4.7172/7203 from 4.7241/7289.
The ringgit also traded mostly lower compared to ASEAN currencies.
It rose against the Thai baht to 12.7706/7838 from 12.8235/8416 at yesterday’s close but went down versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3284/3309 from 3.3244/3280, fell vis-a-vis the Philippine peso to 7.63/7.63 from 7.57/7.58 and eased against the Indonesian rupiah to 282.6/282.9 from 281.5/282.0. - Bernama
