THE ringgit opened lower against the US dollar for the sixth consecutive day today as traders remained cautious ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) decision on the overnight policy rate (OPR),.

At 9am, the local currency fell to 4.7410/7460 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.7360/7400.

ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the investors are waiting on a decision from the central bank on the interest rate. The rate is expected to rise from 2.5% to 2.75%. 

The ringgit’s movement was also influenced by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) announcement of another interest rate rise with more smaller increases ahead.

The Fed has raised the benchmark borrowing rate by 0.75 percentage points, from 3.25% to 4% yesterday.

“(Fed chair Jerome) Powell said he still does not see elements that would warrant a pause in the interest rate increase but that more concrete decisions will be taken at the next meeting in December,” Diniz said. 

Meanwhile, the ringgit traded higher against a basket of other major currencies. 

The local note appreciated against the euro to 4.6566/6615 from 4.6910/6950 at yesterday’s close and improved vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.3456/3496 from 3.3551/3584 yesterday. 

The ringgit went up versus the British pound to 5.4019/4076 from 5.4445/4491 and increased against the Japanese yen to 3.2169/2205 from 3.2185/2214 previously. – Bernama, November 3, 2022.