THE ringgit opened higher against the US dollar today ahead of the United States Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index data, which will be released tomorrow.

At 9am, the local note rose to 4.5455/5485 against the greenback compared with 4.5535/5565 at the close last Friday.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said with the US dollar experiencing a decline, the key data points to focus on are the US ISM index for the manufacturing sector and nonfarm payroll (NFP) for this month. 

“It is expected that the ISM Index will show a slight decrease to 46.5 this month, down from 46.0 previously.

“Meanwhile, the NFP, set to be released this Friday, is projected to be at 184,000, lower than the previous figure of 209,000,” he told Bernama.

Afzanizam said the Reserve Bank of Australia is scheduled to announce its decision on the benchmark interest rate tomorrow, with markets anticipating a 25 basis point hike.

“All in all, the Malaysian ringgit is forecast to trade in the RM4.54-RM4.56 range against the US dollar throughout the week due to the latter’s weaker performance,” he said.

In the meantime, the local unit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

It increased against the Japanese yen to 3.2265/2289 from 3.2691/2715 on Friday, but slid against the euro to 5.0105/0138 from 4.9966/9998, and also decreased vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.8446/8485 from 5.8362/8401 on Friday.

Conversely, the local note traded mostly higher against other Asean currencies.

The ringgit was up versus the Singapore dollar to 3.4148/4176 from 3.4183/4208 at the close on Friday, increased against the Indonesian rupiah to 300.8/301.2 from 301.4/301.8 and stronger vis-a-vis the Philippines’ peso to 8.28/8.30 from 8.29/8.31 previously.

However, it declined against the Thai baht to 13.2878/3036 from 13.2058/2218 previously. – Bernama, July 31, 2023.