Food
The ringgit marched higher against the US dollar today, appreciating by 59% since it was last seen in April 2016, said Oanda Head of Trading for Asia Pacific, Stephen Innes.
At 6pm, the local note ended at 3.8840/8870 against the greenback from 3.9110/9140 on Wednesday.
Innes said the ringgit touched the 3.8 level, rising 15% from its weakest point in early 2017.
It strengthened against the US dollar as it continued its depreciation amid the increase on the overnight policy rate by 25 basis points to 3.25% by Bank Negara Malaysia today.
He said the increase did not have much impact on the ringgit as the markets had fully priced in the move.
“However, we think the market found itself a little oversold and with what amounted to be a dovish rate increase by BNM, traders booked profits.
“If we consider that we could be entering extended cyclical downtrend on the US dollar, the ringgit could still rally below 3.80 level in near term,” he told Bernama.
On another note, Innes also said that oil prices, which has come off their highs, would remain above the budget’s forecast and continue to support ringgit’s strength.
The ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.
It rose against the Singapore dollar to 2.9746/9781 from Wednesday’s 2.9803/9832 and gained versus the yen to 3.5630/5661 from 3.5658/5695 yesterday.
It declined against the euro to 4.8286/8327 from 4.8242/8295 on Wednesday and went down against the British pound to 5.5491/5537 from 5.5110/5168 yesterday.
