THE ringgit opened marginally lower today amid cautious sentiments ahead of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) announcement for the second quarter of 2023 (Q2 2023) this Friday, analysts said. 

At 9am, the local note eased to 4.6000/6075 against the US dollar compared with 4.5865/5895 last Friday.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said analysts estimate the GDP growth in Q2 2023 to be slower at 3.6%, compared to 5.6% in Q1 2023.

“Additionally, investors would be monitoring data from China that would be released, including fixed asset investment which is expected to be sustained at 3.8% in July, while retail sales are likely to increase 4.8% in July from 3.1% previously.

“On that note, we think the ringgit would likely stay weak in the near term due to elevated concerns over global growth prospects, so we expect the USD/MYR to linger around RM4.58-RM4.60 today,” he told Bernama.

Commenting on the recent state elections on Saturday, Afzanizam said the outcome could accelerate economic development.

“Voter turnout seems to indicate that Malaysians are favouring political stability, which is crucial for policy-making, the implementation, and more importantly, the outcome of such policies,” he added. 

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

It had eased against the Japanese yen to 3.1724/1778 from 3.1712/1735, and fell vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.8337/8432 from 5.8230/8268 on Friday, but improved versus the euro to 5.0310/0392 from 5.0351/0384 previously.

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

The ringgit inched up against the Singapore dollar to 3.3958/3984 from 3.3967/3991 at Friday’s close, but slipped against the Indonesian rupiah to 302.2/302.8 from 301.3/301.6 previously.

It was flat against the Philippine peso to 8.14/8.16 from 8.14/8.15 on Friday and was higher versus the Thai baht at 13.0715/0984 from 13.0737/0871 previously. – Bernama, August 14, 2023.