THE ringgit opened lower against the US dollar in early trade today due to the lack of interest.

At 9.07am, the local note decreased to 4.5250/5285 against the greenback compared with 4.5175/5200 at yesterday’s close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US Dollar Index (DXY) initially rose to a high of 102.41 before retracting to 102.30 points yesterday.

“Simultaneously, Fitch Rating downgraded the US government’s AAA rating to AA+, citing concerns over weak governance and prolonged debt ceiling negotiations as key factors.

“Despite these developments, the conflicting data presents a mixed signal, as a sovereign rating downgrade typically corresponds to a weaker US currency,” he told Bernama, adding that the MYR/USD may move within a narrow range of RM4.51-RM4.52 today.

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

It dropped against the euro to 4.9766/9804 from 4.9584/9612 at Tuesday’s close but firmed against the Japanese yen 3.1623/1650 from 3.1666/1686 yesterday and improved vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.7839/7883 from 5.7892/7924 previously.

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

The ringgit rose versus the Thai baht to 13.1744/1903 from 13.1852/1982 yesterday and was unchanged versus the Philippines peso at 8.24/8.25 at the close on Tuesday.

It had also depreciated against the Indonesian rupiah to 299.3/299.7 from 298.8/299.1 yesterday and was lower against the Singapore dollar to 3.3877/3909 from 3.3872/3893 previously. – Bernama, August 2, 2023.