KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit reversed its downtrend to end the week marginally higher against the US dollar, driven by positive macroeconomic data that provided support for the local currency, an economist said.
At 6pm, the local currency rose to 4.7655/7700 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.7680/7710.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid noted that Malaysia’s inflation rate continued to decelerate to 1.9% in September.
In addition, the advance gross domestic product (GDP) estimates for the third quarter of 2023 (3Q23) came in at 3.3% from 2.9% in 2Q 2023.
“In that sense, the Malaysian economy is fairly stable despite the uncertainties over the foreign exchange markets and external demand,” he told Bernama.
Nevertheless, he said market players will continue to pay close attention to the ongoing geopolitical conflict in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes opined that the US dollar has been in an overbought position, which saw significant gains from its recent robust economic data.
“The greenback may not have much room for further appreciation, and this could ease the pressure on Asian currencies,” he added.
At the close, the ringgit was traded mostly lower versus a basket of major currencies.
It slipped against the British pound to 5.7777/7831 from 5.7712/7748 at the close on Thursday and depreciated vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0462/0510 from 5.0274/0305 yesterday, but was higher against the yen at 3.1781/1813 from 3.1821/1843 previously.
Conversely, the local note was traded mostly higher against other Asian currencies.
The ringgit appreciated against the Thai baht to 13.0504/0681 from 13.0716/0849 yesterday and strengthened against the Indonesian rupiah to 300.1/300.7 from 301.4/301.8 previously.
It weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.4731/4767 from 3.4702/4726 on Thursday and was flat vis-a-vis the Philippines’ peso at 8.38/8.40 compared to 8.38/8.39 previously. – October 20, 2023