KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit is expected to trade in a tight range, hovering around RM3.95 to RM3.96 this week, as the market anticipates more catalysts, including the upcoming US economic data.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the market focus will be on January’s US non farm payroll, with consensus estimates at 68,000 jobs and an unemployment rate expected to hold at 4.4%.
“There will also be a series of Federal Reserve (Fed) officials sharing their insights this week.
“They are likely to maintain a cautious stance on inflation, which suggests that restrictive monetary policy will continue for now,” he told Bernama.
According to Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd
, the absence of significant deterioration in US jobs data leaves little urgency for the Fed to ease monetary policy immediately, suggesting the US Dollar Index should remain supported in the near term.
The investment bank said this week’s focus will be on the delayed US labour data and softer private-sector jobs, which are expected to meet estimates and cause no surprises for the US dollar.
“Even so, we expect official releases to land broadly in line with consensus, delivering no negative surprise for the US dollar,” it said in a note.
Domestically, Malaysia’s industrial production index and the final fourth-quarter 2025 gross domestic product report are due, which are expected to reinforce the growth narrative, supporting business activity and lending confidence to the ringgit despite ongoing external foreign exchange headwinds.
Last week, the ringgit traded between RM3.9295 and RM3.9440.
On a week-on-week basis, the ringgit ended the week flat against the US dollar to close at 3.9440/9525 compared with 3.9440/9500 last Friday.
The local note traded higher against a basket of major currencies this week.
It gained against the Japanese yen to 2.5111/5167 from 2.5562/5603, appreciated against the British pound to 5.3548/3663 from 5.4163/4245 and rose versus the euro to 4.6508/6608 from 4.6957/7029 a week ago.
The ringgit traded mostly higher compared with its Asean peers.
It went up versus the Singapore dollar to 3.0965/1034 from 3.1077/1127 and surged against the Thai baht to 12.4609/4933 from 12.5250/5544 previously.
