THE ringgit opened slightly lower against the US dollar in early trade today due to lack of demand as the US Dollar Index (DXY) continued to strengthen.

At 9.06am, the ringgit stood at 4.6645/6700 versus the greenback compared with yesterday’s close of 4.6550/6600.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid noted that the DXY rose to 103.712 points last night from 103.268 points on Friday last week as markets seemed to be overly optimistic on the potential rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed) next year.

He said risky assets such as equities were also lower with S&P500 falling 0.54% to close at 4,569.78 points.

The two- and 10-year US Treasury notes closed higher – by 10 basis points to 4.64% and six basis points to 4.25%, respectively.

“As such, the dollar-ringgit pair could be moving towards RM4.66 today. The immediate resistance level is located at RM4.6611. Our sense is that markets are still edgy about the possible rate cut next year as the Fed is still generally deemed to be hawkish in its monetary stance,” he told Bernama.

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

It appreciated further vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0573/0632 from 5.0623/0677 at yesterday’s close and was also marginally higher against the British pound at 5.8969/9038 compared with 5.8997/9061 previously.

However, the local note eased against the Japanese yen to 3.1718/1758 from 3.1751/1787 yesterday.

Meanwhile, the local note performed mixed against other Asean currencies.

It was almost flat versus the Singapore dollar at 3.4883/4926 from 3.4882/4925 yesterday, firmed against the Thai baht to 13.2499/2727 from 13.3183/3368 previously, declined vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 301.6/302.1 from 300.9/301.5, and fell versus the Philippine peso to 8.42/8.43 from 8.41/8.42. – Bernama, December 5, 2023