THE ringgit rose against the US dollar this morning as demand for the domestic currency improved following the recent sell-off and as US bond yields retreated from 16-year highs, an analyst said. 

At 9.03am, the local note rose to 4.6930/6975 against the greenback from Wednesday’s close of 4.7055/7105.

The market was closed on yesterday in conjunction with Prophet Muhammad’s birthday.

“This is very much a ‘bad news is good news’ environment as traders perceive bad US economic news in a favourable light as it should temper the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) rate hike cycle and higher-for-longer interest rate expectations. Hence, border forex markets have reduced long US dollar positions,” SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said.

He said the global risk appetite looked more favourable on the back of higher US stock markets, lower US bond yields and improving industrial earnings in China, which should offer some breathing room for the maligned ringgit.

The ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

It advanced against the euro at 4.9567/9615 from Wednesday’s closing of 4.9690/9743, went up against the Japanese yen to 3.1412/1445 from 3.1534/1570 but depreciated against the British pound at 5.7250/7305 from 5.7167/7228. 

At the same time, the local note was also traded mixed against other Asian currencies.

It improved against the Thai baht at 12.8119/8298 from 12.8759/8949 on Wednesday and was higher against the Indonesian rupiah at 302.3/302.8 from 303.1/303.6 previously.

It changed a little against the Philippine peso at 8.27/8.28 from 8.26/8.28 on Wednesday and decreased against the Singapore dollar to 3.4351/4386 from 3.4334/4373 previously. – Bernama, September 29, 2023.