KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened slightly higher against the greenback as the US Dollar Index (DXY) remained muted despite the US inflation report coming in higher than expected.
At 8 am, the ringgit rose to 4.4675/4745 versus the US dollar compared to Wednesday’s close of 4.4680/4725.
The US headline and core consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.0 per cent and 3.3 per cent in January, higher against consensus estimates of 2.9 per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the latest inflation print clearly cemented the views that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) is not in a rush to ease interest rate.
He said the US Fed chair Jerome Powell also indicated such message in his testimony to the US Congress, saying that more needs to be done to achieve the price stability mandate.
"As such, ringgit should stay weak against the US dollar as the Fed is not about to reduce the Fed Funds Rate anytime soon,” he told Bernama today.
Besides, the policy uncertainties with regards to import tariff by President Donald Trump would certainly add to the US dollar appeal in the near term, he added.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of major currencies, except against the Japanese yen, whereby it improved to 2.8966/9014 from 2.9106/9137 at the close on Wednesday.
The local currency slipped versus the euro to 4.6422/6495 from 4.6351/6398, and depreciated vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.5620/5708 from 5.5613/5669.
The ringgit traded mixed against ASEAN currencies.
It rose slightly against the Singapore dollar to 3.3024/3078 from 3.3028/3064 on Wednesday and dropped vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 13.1301/1603 from 13.0953/1151 previously.
The local note remained unchanged versus both the Indonesian rupiah and the Philippine peso at 272.7/273.4 and 7.68/7.69, respectively. - Bernama
