RINGGIT NEARLY FLAT AGAINST US DOLLAR, STRENGTHENS AGAINST BASKET OF OTHER CURRENCIES

By Harizah Hanim Mohamed

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 (Bernama) -- The ringgit opened nearly flat against the US dollar as the outcome of the two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and stronger US economic data are expected to remain supportive of the dollar, an economist said.

However, the ringgit was seen trading stronger when indexed against a basket of currencies.

At 8 am, the ringgit was at 4.5030/5250 compared with 4.5030/5080 against the greenback at yesterday’s close.

Quoting US economic reports, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said US data points showed the economy remain resillient with the final third quarter of 2024 gross domestic product coming in better than expected while the initial jobless claims dropped to 220,000 last week from 242,000 previously.

“Consequently, the US Dollar Index rose further to 108.418 points.

“On that note, it’s dollar-positive in the immediate terms. As such, dollar-ringgit would continue to hover near RM4.50 in the near term,” he added.

The ringgit was traded higher against other major currencies.

It rose against the Japanese yen to 2.8563/8706 from 2.8687/8723 yesterday, against the British pound, it improved to 5.6269/6544 from 5.6999/7062 and was better against the euro at 4.6669/6897 from 4.6876/6928 previously.

The ringgit traded mixed against ASEAN currencies.

The local note improved against the Singapore dollar to 3.3059/3226 from 3.3130/3169 but fell against the Thai baht to 13.059/3226 from Thursday’s close of 13.0322/0530.

It was almost flat against the Indonesian rupiah at 276.0/277.5 compared with 276.0/276.4 on Thursday’s close and was unchanged vis-à-vis the Philippine peso to 7.63/76.7 versus 7.63/7.64 previously.

-- BERNAMA