KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened marginally lower on Monday amid cautious sentiments ahead of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) announcement for the second quarter of 2023 (2Q 2023) this Friday, said analysts.
At 9 am, the local note eased to 4.6000/6075 against the US dollar compared with 4.5865/5895 last Friday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said analysts estimate the GDP growth in 2Q 2023 to be slower at 3.6 per cent, compared to 5.6 per cent in 1Q 2023.
“Additionally, investors would be monitoring a slew of data from China that would be released, including Fixed Asset Investment which is expected to be sustained at 3.8 per cent in July, while Retail Sales are likely to increase 4.8 per cent in July from 3.1 per cent previously.
“On that note, we think the ringgit would likely stay weak in the near term due to elevated concerns over global growth prospects, so we expect the USD/MYR to linger around RM4.58-RM4.60 today,” he told Bernama.
Commenting on the recent state elections on Saturday, Mohd Afzanizam said the outcome could accelerate economic development.
“The voters’ turnout seems to indicate that Malaysians are favouring political stability, which is crucial for policy-making, the implementation, and more importantly, the outcome of such policies,” he added.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It had eased against the Japanese yen to 3.1724/1778 from 3.1712/1735, and fell vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.8337/8432 from 5.8230/8268 on Friday, but improved versus the euro to 5.0310/0392 from 5.0351/0384 previously.
At the same time, the local unit was traded mostly higher against other Asean currencies.
The ringgit inched up against the Singapore dollar to 3.3958/3984 from 3.3967/3991 at Friday’s close, but slipped against the Indonesian rupiah to 302.2/302.8 from 301.3/301.6 previously.
It was flat against the Philippines’ peso to 8.14/8.16 from 8.14/8.15 on Friday and was higher versus the Thai baht at 13.0715/0984 from 13.0737/0871 previously.
Short-term rates stable
KUALA LUMPUR: Short-term rates are expected to remain stable today on Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) operations to absorb surplus liquidity from the financial system.
Liquidity is estimated at RM38.56 billion in the conventional system and RM19.48 billion in Islamic funds.
Today, the central bank will conduct a RM1 billion conventional money market tender for seven days and two Qard tenders, comprising a RM800 million tender for seven days and a RM300 million tender for 14 days.
It will also call for two reverse repo tenders, namely a RM1.5 billion tender for 31 days and a RM500 million tender for 92 days.
BNM also announced the availability of reverse repo, sale and buy-back agreements, as well as Collateralised Commodity Murabahah facilities for tenors of one to three months.
At 4 pm, BNM will conduct up to RM39.6 billion conventional overnight tender and RM18.4 billion for Murabahah overnight tender.
Foreign exchange rates
Following are the opening Malaysian foreign exchange for major currencies today:
1 USD 4.6000/6075
100 yen 3.1724/1778
1 pound 5.8337/8432
1 euro 5.0310/0392
1 SGD 3.3958/3984
100 baht 13.0715/0984
1 mln rupiah 302.2/302.8
100 pesos 8.14/8.16
Exchange rates issued by Malayan Banking Bhd today
| SELLING TT/OD | BUYING TT | BUYING OD | |
| 1 US Dollar | 4.6655 | 4.5315 | 4.5075 |
| 1 Australian Dollar | 3.0450 | 2.9220 | 2.9080 |
| 1 Brunei Dollar | 3.4440 | 3.3450 | 3.3350 |
| 1 Canadian Dollar | 3.4670 | 3.3740 | 3.3490 |
| 1 Euro | 5.1130 | 4.9480 | 4.9270 |
| 1 New Zealand Dollar | 2.8010 | 2.6970 | 2.6850 |
| 1 Papua N Guinea Kina | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1 Singapore Dollar | 3.4440 | 3.3450 | 3.3350 |
| 1 Sterling Pound | 5.9280 | 5.7410 | 5.7020 |
| 1 Swiss Franc | 5.3030 | 5.1810 | 5.1560 |
| 100 UAE Dirham | 128.5700 | 121.9200 | 121.1800 |
| 100 Bangladesh Taka | 4.3370 | 4.0690 | 3.8510 |
| 100 Chinese Renminbi | 64.5000 | 62.1000 | N/A |
| 100 Danish Krone | 70.3300 | 64.7300 | 64.5200 |
| 100 Hongkong Dollar | 60.3400 | 57.3500 | 56.8800 |
| 100 Indian Rupee | 5.7300 | 5.3700 | 5.1700 |
| 100 Indonesian Rupiah | 0.0317 | 0.0287 | 0.0237 |
| 100 Japanese Yen | 3.2200 | 3.1180 | 3.1080 |
| 100 New Taiwan Dollar | 15.7000 | N/A | N/A |
| 100 Norwegian Krone | 45.9300 | 42.2500 | 42.3600 |
| 100 Pakistan Rupee | N/A | N/A | 1.3400 |
| 100 Philippine Peso | 8.3800 | 7.9000 | 7.7200 |
| 100 Qatar Riyal | 129.4800 | 122.9200 | 122.1600 |
| 100 Saudi Riyal | 125.7900 | 119.4200 | 118.6700 |
| 100 South Africa Rand | 25.5100 | 23.0400 | 22.8800 |
| 100 Sri Lanka Rupee | 1.5000 | 1.3800 | 1.1700 |
| 100 Swedish Krona | 44.4100 | 40.4500 | 40.6000 |
| 100 Thai Baht | N/A | N/A | 11.8500 |
Gold down
The physical price of gold as at 9.30 am stood at RM273.42 per gramme, down 21 sen from RM273.63 at 5.00 pm last Friday. — BERNAMA
