THE ringgit continued to open weaker versus the US dollar today as cautious sentiment prevailed ahead of the United States (US) Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate decision tomorrow.

At 9.06am, the local note eased to 4.6220/6270 against the greenback, compared with yesterday’s close of 4.6175/6220. 

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the equities market appears to be positive, boosted by the anticipation that the US Fed might pause its interest rate hikes ahead of the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) report today.

“As such, ringgit could experience a slight appreciation today,” he told Bernama. 

Meanwhile, ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said most experts believe the Fed should keep the interest rate unchanged at 5.25%.

“If that happens, the US dollar could fall against ringgit. But if the interest rate goes up to 5.5%, the US dollar-ringgit could quickly rise to 4.7400,” he said.

From the technical point of view, he said the USD/MYR pair could resume its bullish movement if it manages to break above 4.6400.

“A downward move is likely if the US dollar-ringgit breaks below the 4.5700 level and it could drop to as low as 4.5250 in a few days,” Diniz added. 

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

It was higher versus the British pound to 5.7863/7925 from Monday’s closing of 5.8157/8214, went up vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9742/9796 from 4.9804/9853 yesterday, and rose against the Japanese yen to 3.3099/3138 from 3.3162/3197 previously.

At the same time, the local note traded mixed against other Asean currencies.

The ringgit increased slightly against the Singapore dollar to 3.4403/4442 from 3.4408/4444 on Monday and strengthened versus the Thai baht to 13.3326/3535 from 13.3400/3599 previously.

However, it was marginally lower against the Indonesian rupiah to 310.9/311.4 from 310.6/311.0 yesterday and eased to 8.24/8.26 against the Philippines peso from 8.23/8.25 previously. – Bernama, June 13, 2023.