THE ringgit reversed its losses yesterday to open stronger against the United States dollar, ahead of the expected release of the US consumer price index (CPI) data for January later today, said an analyst.

At 9am, the ringgit rose to 4.3480/3525 versus the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.3575/3625.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the US dollar weakened amid better risk sentiment as fast money traders performed the usual housekeeping duties by reducing risk ahead of today’s US inflation print.

“If the US CPI print fails to print above grade, an improving macro backdrop could further cheapen the US dollar,” he told Bernama.

ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said given that inflation in the US is still quite high, the message from the US Federal Reserve is clear – it will maintain a tighter monetary policy.

“This makes US bonds a more interesting asset for investors. From a technical point of view, the ringgit-US dollar could move to the 4.4000 region, where it might encounter resistance,” he said.

Back home, the ringgit, however, traded lower against a basket of major currencies.

It depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.2738/2777 from 3.2697/2739 at Monday’s close and eased versus the Japanese yen to 3.2909/2946 from 3.2837/2877 previously.

The local currency also slipped vis-a-vis the euro to 4.6658/6707 from 4.6521/6574 yesterday and fell against the British pound to 5.2811/2865 from 5.2447/2507. – Bernama, February 14, 2023.