KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened higher against major currencies but eased against the US dollar today, as market sentiment remained cautious ahead of the release of the United States Consumer Price Index (CPI) data tonight.
At 8 am, the local note depreciated to 4.0600/0640 against the greenback from Tuesday’s close of 4.0580/0630.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the foreign exchange market is expected to remain guarded ahead of the highly anticipated US CPI report.
"Bond traders appear to be upping their bets for a 25-basis-point interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve this year, in light of the robust jobs data and higher inflation expectations going forward.
"This could mean that the US dollar would be well supported in the near term,” he told Bernama.
The ringgit traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
It rose against the Japanese yen to 2.5312/5338 from 2.5332/5365 at Tuesday’s close, was higher versus the British pound to 5.4286/4340 from 5.4329/4395, and gained against the euro to 4.6832/6878 from 4.6915/6972 previously.
The local currency mostly strengthened against regional peers.
It appreciated versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1536/1570 from 3.1563/1604 yesterday, and was up against the Thai baht at 12.3239/3432 from 12.3531/3732 previously.
However, it was marginally lower against the Indonesian rupiah to 224.8/225.1 versus 224.7/225.1, and was unchanged against the Philippine peso at 6.59/6.60 as the previous close. - Bernama
