THE ringgit opened lower against the US dollar this morning as the greenback firmed up following the release of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes, which showed that the Federal Reserve (Fed) is committed to raising interest rates after the pause in June, an economist said. 

At 9am, the local unit fell to 4.6630/6670 versus the US dollar, compared with 4.6485/6555 at yesterday’s close.

The US Dollar Index reportedly gained 0.31% to 103.358 points.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the market is also awaiting Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) decision on the overnight policy rate (OPR) and its latest assessment on the economy later today.

“BNM’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will deliberate their decision on OPR today. As such, the ringgit should linger around 4.65 (to the US dollar),” he told Bernama.

The two-day MPC meeting began yesterday, and analysts say the central bank is expected to maintain the OPR at 3%.

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

It declined vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0584/0628 from 5.0641/0717 at Wednesday’s close, slipped against the Japanese yen to 3.2330/2360 from 3.2221/2272 and weakened against the British pound to 5.9201/9252 from 5.9101/9190 at the close yesterday.

The local note also traded lower against other Asean currencies except against the Thai baht as it rose to 13.3183/3362 from 13.3237/3510 yesterday.

The ringgit was down versus the Singapore dollar at 3.4454/4486 from 3.4380/4437 on Wednesday’s close, fell against the Indonesian rupiah to 310.4/310.9 from 309.4/310.1 and decreased against the Philippine peso to 8.40/8.42 from 8.39/8.41 at the close yesterday. – Bernama, July 6, 2023.