THE ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar today amid uncertainties ahead of a US interest rate decision.

At 9am, the local note rose to 4.4570/4600 versus the greenback from Tuesday’s closing rate of 4.4640/4640.

ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said it was natural for the market to move laterally right before monetary policy decisions, especially in the face of high inflation in the US, though the pace has been slowing with each new reading.

“As such, most experts believe that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will increase the interest rate to 5.25% from 5%.

“If that happens, the overall message to the market will be that the Fed is continuing to tighten its monetary policy, albeit at a slower pace while closely monitoring the economy,” he said in a note.

Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly higher against major currencies.

It appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.2674/2698 from yesterday’s 3.2388/2402 and was marginally higher vis-a-vis the British pound at 5.5619/5656 from 5.5632/5636 previously.

But the local note eased versus the euro to 4.9089/9122 from 4.8902/8906 yesterday.

Concurrently, the local note traded mixed against Asean currencies.

It rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 302.8/303.2 from 303.3/303.5 yesterday, gained against the Singapore dollar to 3.3403/3431 from 3.3411/3414, and improved against the Philippines’ peso at 8.04/8.05 from 8.05/8.07.

However, it was lower compared to the Thai baht at 13.0830/0984 from 13.0423/0478. – Bernama, May 3, 2023.