According to an analyst, the ringgit dropped against the US Dollar at the start of today’s (Jan 19) market expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) would raise interest rates, which would provide some support to the dollar.
As of 9:01 am, the local currency was trading at 4.1925/1960 per US dollar at 9:01 am, down from 4.1815/1835 at Monday’s closing price.
Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, chief economist at Bank Islam Bhd, said that the rapid jump in the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note to 1.88 per cent has re-energized the belief that the Federal Reserve would raise its benchmark interest rate in March, as previously predicted.
“This will certainly provides a boost to the US dollar and admittedly a weaker ringgit,” he informed Bernama.
He also mentioned that the first meeting of the year of Bank Negara Malaysia’s Monetary Policy Committee (BNM), will likely shed some light on BNM’s evaluation of the economy and what may it imply for the overnight policy rate (OPR) in the coming months.
He continued by stating that for the time being, anticipate the local note to maintain a weaker bias.
Compared to Monday’s closing of 3.1020/1039, the ringgit opened marginally lower at 3.1038/1080, down from 3.1020/1039. It also declined against the Japanese yen, falling to 3.6541/6579 from 3.6523/6544, according to the Singapore Exchange.
However, it gained ground against the British pound, rising to 5.7005/7053 from 5.7207/7234, and gained ground against euro, rising to 4.7493/7532 from 4.7774/7796 previously.
