THE ringgit rebounded to close higher against the US dollar today as the greenback weakened due to the US Federal Reserve’s dovish stance. 

At 6pm, the ringgit rose to 4.6760/6805 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.6920/6965.   

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit was generally on a stronger footing versus the US dollar today, which is in line with the decline in the US Dollar Index by 0.03% to 102.535 points. 

Notably, the ringgit was also higher against the Japanese yen by 1.51% to RM3.2376 per ¥100 as the Bank of Japan policy meeting today ended with no change in their ultra-loose monetary stance. 

“Today’s performance also showed that the ringgit remained resilient despite the lower-than-expected export volume for November. All in all, narratives for monetary easing in the US are building momentum which should be positive for the local note,” he told Bernama. 

In the meantime, the ringgit was traded higher versus a basket of major currencies. 

It appreciated against the British pound to 5.9376/9433 from 5.9434/9491 at yesterday’s close and was firmer against the Japanese yen at 3.2358/2393 from 3.2926/2960 and rose vis-a-vis the euro to 5.1146/1195 from 5.1232/1281. 

The local note was traded higher against other Asean currencies. 

It increased against the Philippine peso to 8.35/8.37 from yesterday’s closing rate of 8.40/8.41 and strengthened against the Indonesian rupiah to 301.5/301.9 from 302.4/302.9. 

The ringgit went up versus the Singapore dollar to 3.5089/5128 from 3.5249/5285 and improved against the Thai baht to 13.3604/3805 from 13.4042/4228 previously. – Bernama, December 19, 2023.