RINGGIT ENDS SLIGHTLY LOWER AGAINST US DOLLAR ON CAUTION AHEAD OF POWELL SPEECH

By Siti Noor Afera Abu

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 (Bernama) -- The ringgit closed slightly lower against the greenback on Thursday as the US Dollar Index (DXY) stayed elevated, with investors remaining cautious ahead of a speech by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair amid uncertainty over the federal government shutdown in the United States. 

At 6 pm, the local note eased to 4.2145/2185 against the greenback from Wednesday’s close of 4.2140/2195.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will deliver his speech later tonight, which could shed more light on how the US central bank sees the risk to growth following the ongoing US government shutdown.

Against such a backdrop, he noted that the USD/MYR maintained its narrow range trade of between RM4.21 and RM4.22 today.

“Regional currencies were also mixed, suggesting a lack of conviction among traders. As such, Budget 2026 should help steer the ringgit as the government is expected to maintain its stance to reduce the budget gap lower for next year,” he told Bernama.

At the close, the ringgit was mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

It fell versus the euro to 4.8988/9044 from 4.8941/9005 at Wednesday’s close, weakened vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 2.7625/7653 from 2.7559/7596, but rose against the British pound to 5.6420/6473 from 5.6501/6575.  

The ringgit was mostly mixed against ASEAN currencies. 

It advanced versus the Thai baht to 12.9323/9505 from 12.9506/9739 at yesterday’s close and rose against the Philippine peso to 7.23/7.24 from 7.27/7.28.

However, the ringgit slipped against the Singapore dollar to 3.2534/2568 from 3.2503/2548 previously, and was little changed vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah at 254.3/254.7 from 254.2/254.7.

-- BERNAMA