THE ringgit extended its uptrend to open marginally higher against the US dollar today amid positive sentiment on anticipation of global interest rate cuts next year, an analyst said.

At 9am, the ringgit rose to 4.6530/6575 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.6555/6605.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said risk-free assets such as US Treasury yields trended lower, which indicates that the interest rate cut narrative in 2024 has become more entrenched in the fixed income market.

“This should be supportive for the ringgit, which is expected to range around RM4.65 (to the US dollar) in the near term. It has breached its resistance level of RM4.6611, and the next resistance level is located at RM4.5778,” he said.

The ringgit also traded higher versus a basket of major currencies.

It appreciated against the British pound to 5.8828/8885 from 5.9027/9090 at Wednesday’s close, strengthened vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0941/0990 from 5.1043/1098 yesterday, and rose against the Japanese yen to 3.2452/2488 from 3.2465/2502 previously.

Similarly, the local note was traded mostly higher against a few Asean currencies.

The ringgit strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.4959/4998 from 3.5027/5968 on Wednesday and gained against the Thai baht to 13.2905/3098 from 13.3392/3596 previously.

It also improved against the Indonesian rupiah to 299.9/300.3 from 300.1/300.5 yesterday but remained flat versus the Philippine peso at 8.35/8.36. – Bernama, December 21, 2023.