KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened firmer against the US dollar on Friday, buoyed by improved sentiment after Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) kept its overnight policy rate (OPR) unchanged at 2.75 per cent.
At 8 am, the local currency rose to 4.0370/0420 against the greenback from Thursday’s close of 4.0405/0445.
On Thursday, BNM’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to maintain the OPR at 2.75 per cent.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the MPC’s decision to keep the OPR steady amid robust growth and fairly benign inflation dynamics suggested that the Malaysian economy was in a "sweet spot”.
"This should provide support to the ringgit as BNM has policy flexibility, which can be a selling point for holding more ringgit,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Mohd Afzanizam said the ringgit also benefited from a softer US dollar following US Federal Reserve (Fed) Governor Christopher Waller’s remarks overnight, which reduced expectations of a rate hike at the Fed’s September meeting.
He said Waller’s comments indicated that he would support keeping interest rates unchanged if inflation continued to ease towards the Fed’s two per cent target, putting further pressure on the greenback.
"This US dollar weakness is broadly supportive of emerging market currencies, including the ringgit,” he said.
Against a basket of major currencies, the ringgit weakened against the Japanese yen to 2.5936/5970 from 2.5838/5865 at Thursday’s close, eased against the British pound to 5.4608/4676 from 5.4539/4593 and dipped against the euro to 4.6942/7000 from 4.6894/6940 previously.
The ringgit traded mostly lower against regional currencies.
It declined against the Singapore dollar to 3.1868/1910 from 3.1850/1884 and fell against the Thai baht to 12.2668/2898 from 12.2421/2598 at Thursday’s close.
The ringgit was flat against the Philippine peso at 6.46/6.47 but gained against the Indonesian rupiah to 228.3/228.7 from 228.5/228.8 previously. - Bernama
