RINGGIT SLIGHTLY UP VS GREENBACK IN EARLY TRADE AMID CAUTIOUS SENTIMENT

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 (Bernama) -- The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar in early trade today amid cautious sentiment, following mixed data from the US PMI index for manufacturing, which caused the US Dollar Index (DXY) to slip to 106.858 points from 107.003 previously.

At 8 am, the ringgit stood at 4.4470/4570 against the US dollar from Monday's close of 4.4500/4550.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US PMI index for manufacturing fell more than expected to 48.3 points in December against market expectation of 49.5 points.

“The 25-basis-point cut is already priced in, with interest rate derivatives projecting a 95 per cent chance of that this week.

"The main issue is next year's outlook. Hence, markets will pay close attention to the dot plot distribution charts to gauge the likelihood of further rate cuts based on the survey within the FOMC members which will normally be published quarterly,” he told Bernama.

The ringgit traded softer against other major currencies.

The local note strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.8865/8932 as compared with 2.8930/8964 previously.

It depreciated versus the British pound to 5.6441/6568 from Monday’s close of 5.6301/6365 and fell against the euro to 4.6769/6874 from 4.6743/6795 at Monday’s close.

The ringgit was traded mostly higher against ASEAN currencies.

It rose marginally against the Singapore dollar to 3.2960/3039 from 3.2992/3032 at yesterday’s close, went up versus the Thai baht to 13.0456/0873 from 13.0575/0795 and improved against the Indonesian rupiah to 277.9/278.6 versus 278.0/278.5.

Since yesterday, the local note has been flat at 7.58/7.60 against the Philippine peso.

-- BERNAMA