KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit extended a negative trend on Friday against the US dollar, with sentiment continuing to be hamstrung by the expectation that the higher-for-longer rate narratives are likely to prevail.
At 9am, the ringgit stood at 4.6420/6480 versus the US dollar from yesterday’s close of 4.6330/6370.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said hopes for a rate cut to occur in the near term seem to fade after the ADP Employment Change report showed that the United States labour markets are still resilient; total jobs created in the private sector rose by 164,000 in December against market expectation of 115,000.
Meanwhile, the initial jobless claims fell to 202,000 last week from 220,000 previously.
These data subsequently boosted the two- and 10-year US Treasury, which yielded higher by six and eight basis points to close at 4.38% and 4.00%, respectively.
“As such, the ringgit could remain in a narrow range versus the greenback between RM4.63 and RM4.64, as market participants would want to wait for the latest nonfarm payroll and the unemployment rate report tonight,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It improved vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.8907/8983 from 5.8964/9015 yesterday and appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.2054/2097 from 3.2185/2215.
The local unit, however, slipped versus the euro to 5.0835/0900 from 5.0634/0694 yesterday.
The local currency appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.2054/2097 from 3.2185/2215 yesterday.
The ringgit was traded mostly lower against Asean currencies.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.4921/4968 from 3.4903/4936 at the previous day’s close and depreciated vis-à-vis the Philippine peso to 8.36/8.37 from 8.33/8.34.
The local currency was lower versus the Indonesian rupiah at 299.6/300.1 from 299.0/299.4, while it rose against the Thai baht at 13.4236/4487 from 13.4500/4687. – January 5, 2024