THE ringgit was slightly stronger against the US dollar this morning as concerns over the United States’ debt ceiling took a toll on the greenback, an analyst said.

At 9am, the local note inched up to 4.5230/5280 versus the greenback from yesterday’s closing rate of 4.5250/5275.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid opined that the US politicians would resolve the deadlock because they need to ensure that the economy would continue to sustain growth.

“It’s just that the political haggling may cause uneasiness in the financial market,” he said, adding that the ringgit should see some stability today.

ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the US dollar-ringgit pair might trade sideways leading up to the release of US Initial Jobless Claims data along with the US Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index.

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

It weakened vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.6456/6518 versus 5.6300/6331 at the close yesterday and eased against the euro to 4.9034/9088 from 4.9006/9033, but rose against the Japanese yen to 3.2907/2945 from 3.3039/3060 previously.

The local note also traded mostly lower against Asean currencies.

It was flat versus the Indonesian rupiah at 304.1/304.6 from 304.2/304.6 at yesterday’s close, declined to 3.3696/3736 against the Singapore dollar from 3.3693/3714, slipped against the Philippine pesos at 8.07/8.09 from 8.05/8.06 and slid vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 13.2136/2343 from 13.2059/2182. – Bernama, May 18, 2023.