THE ringgit continued to rally for the fourth straight day against the US dollar as such appreciation has been long overdue, considering that the local currency has been in an oversold condition for quite some time, an economist said.

At 6pm, the ringgit surged 545 percentage in points (pips) to 4.5255/5280 against the greenback from 4.5800/5845 at yesterday’s close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said based on the nominal effective exchange rate, the ringgit is still undervalued, suggesting that appreciation of the currency is likely.

“The prevailing US dollar/ringgit rate has surpassed the support level of 4.5491, and the next support level is at 4.4872,” he said.

At home, the ringgit traded higher against a basket of major currencies at today’s close.

It strengthened vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0799/0827 from 5.1168/1218 at yesterday’s close, rose against the British pound to 5.9338/9371 from 5.9861/9919 and was up versus the Japanese yen to 3.2659/2679 from 3.3069/3103.

The local note also traded higher against other Asean currencies.

It rose against the Thai baht to 13.0689/0814 from yesterday’s close of 13.2481/2673 and inched up against the Singapore dollar at 3.4263/4287 from 3.4553/4590 previously.

The ringgit climbed against the Indonesian rupiah to 302.5/302.8 from 305.9/306.4 and gained against the Philippine peso at 8.31/8.33 from 8.40/8.41. – Bernama, July 14, 2023.