THE ringgit fell against the US dollar ahead of key US inflation data today, analysts said.

At 6pm, the local note declined to 4.6785/6835 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.6755/6805.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit weakened against the US dollar, euro and British pound.

“The focus now is on the US Consumer Price Index (CPI), which will be announced tonight. Consensus estimates showed US inflation for August could come in at 3.6% against July’s 3.2%,” he said.

“Markets are expecting the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to keep the Fed Fund Rate unchanged during the Federal Open Market Committee meeting next week.

“However, an elevated inflation rate would mean the Fed could lean on the hawkish side.”

AmBank Group Economic Research Division, in its Fixed Income & FX Research note today, said technically, short-term resistance for the US dollar-ringgit is between 4.710 and 4.730 with support between 4.630 and 4.640.

It said the ringgit is likely to be supported by firm oil prices.

At 6pm today, the ringgit was up against the Japanese yen at 3.1742/1778 from 3.1849/1886 at yesterday’s close, fell against the British pound to 5.8308/8370 from 5.8299/8361 and depreciated vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0200/0254 from 5.0131/0184.

The local note was traded mixed against a basket of Asean currencies.

It rose against the Thai baht to 13.0809/1003 from 13.1157/1349 at yesterday’s close and edged up against the Indonesian rupiah to 304.3/304.8 from 304.7/305.2.

The ringgit eased vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.4358/4400 from 3.4338/4378 and remained unchanged versus the Philippine peso at 8.25/8.26. – Bernama, September 13, 2023.