THE ringgit traded higher against the US dollar in the early session today as investors await the release of the United States non-farm payrolls data later today, a dealer said. 

At 9am, the local note rose to 4.5990/6030 versus the greenback against yesterday’s closing of 4.6110/6165. 

ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said investors were uncertain ahead of the release of the data.  

“From a technical point of view, the Relative Strength Index indicator shows that the US dollar/ringgit is in an overbought region and the ringgit could rise further if the price manages to break the 4.5860 level.

“If that is the case, the US dollar/ringgit could reach 4.5260, where it should find some solid support,” he said in a note today.

Meanwhile, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit could stabilise and might record a slight appreciation given the positive development on the US debt ceiling along with soft economic data that might lead to a more dovish stand by the US Federal Reserve.

In the meantime, the ringgit traded lower against a basket of major currencies.

It went down to 3.3101/3132 against the Japanese yen from 3.2995/3036 at yesterday’s closing, declined against the euro to 4.9494/9537 from 4.9356/9415 and depreciated versus the British pound 5.7602/7653 from 5.7407/7475 yesterday. 

The local note traded mostly lower against other Asean currencies.

The ringgit fell against the Thai baht to 13.2823/3008 from 13.2569/2792 yesterday and slid against the Singapore dollar to 3.4117/4149 from yesterday’s 3.4095/4138. 

It eased against the Indonesian rupiah at 306.6/307.1 from 307.4/308.0 yesterday and was flat against the Philippine peso at 8.19/8.21. – Bernama, June 2, 2023.