RINGGIT OPENS FIRMER AGAINST GREENBACK, SET TO REACH RM4.10 BY YEAR-END

By Harizah Hanim Mohamed

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 (Bernama) -- The ringgit opened slightly firmer against the US dollar, aligning with forecasts to reach RM4.10 by year-end, as dovish remarks by US Federal Reserve officials weakened the greenback.

At 8 am, the ringgit strengthened to 4.1365/1470 against the US dollar, up from yesterday’s close of 4.1370/1420.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit is expected to maintain its positive momentum today.

“The US dollar-ringgit pair would oscillate around RM4.13 to RM4.15,” he said.

Mohd Afzanizam also said that the bank had revised the ringgit forecast to RM4.10 from RM4.15 by year-end due to the narrowing interest rate gap between the US Federal Fund Rate and Malaysia’s Overnight Policy Rate.

“Another reason is that Malaysia’s fiscal position is on track to reduce the fiscal deficits. The nine-month fiscal for this year was 3.3 per cent of gross domestic product versus 4.1 per cent in the same period last year.

At the opening, the ringgit was mostly traded higher against a basket of major currencies.

It was stronger against the yen at 2.6366/6434 from 2.6392/6426 at yesterday’s close, improved against the euro to 4.7652/7773 from 4.7700/7757 previously.

The local note, however, weakened against the British pound to 5.4209/4346 from 5.4153/4219 previously. 

The ringgit eased against ASEAN currencies.

It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.1697/1783 from 3.1689/1730 at yesterday’s close, and was lower against the Thai baht at 12.7776/8184 from 12.7324/7525. It was flat against the Indonesian rupiah at 247.7/248.4 compared with 247.7/248.1 and was unchanged against the Philippine peso at 7.02/7.04.

-- BERNAMA