THE ringgit retreated from two consecutive days of gains to open lower against the US dollar today amid softening data points.

At 9am, the local note fell to 4.4030/4070 versus the dollar from yesterday’s closing rate of 4.3970/4020. 

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar index rebounded by 0.32% to 101.91 points.

“The United States purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the services sector in March declined to 51.2 points from 55.1 points previously, against the consensus estimate of 54.5 points.

“Similarly, the ADP employment change which gauges job creation in the private sector fell to 145,000 in March (February: 242,000) against the market’s expectation of 200,000,” he told Bernama.

The euro and British pound (GBP) also eased against the greenback, declining by 0.01% and 0.31% to US$1.09 and US$1.24, respectively.

“Against such a backdrop, the dollar-ringgit could linger around RM4.40 during the day as market participants may have become wary about the strength of the global economy.

“So far, the data points from PMI indices indicate the global economy has been softening, implying that central banks could turn dovish in the periods to come,” Afzanizam added. 

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

It rose vis-a-vis the euro to 4.7962/8005 from 4.8156/8211 at yesterday’s close and inched up versus the British pound to 5.4804/4854 from 5.4879/4941, but depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.3567/3600 compared with 3.3399/3440 at yesterday’s close. 

The ringgit traded mixed against Asean currencies.

It increased slightly versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3135/3170 from 3.3165/3205 at yesterday’s close and gained against the Thai baht to 12.9439/9618 from 12.9782/9991.

However, the local note fell vis-a-vis the Philippines peso at 8.09/8.10 from 8.08/8.09 yesterday and eased versus the Indonesian rupiah to 294.80/295.20 from 294.40/294.90. – Bernama, April 6, 2023.