KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened on a strong note against the US dollar as well as most major Asian and non-Asian currencies, while the market eagerly anticipates the results of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for Sept 19-20.
At 9.11 am, the local note rose to 4.6700/6750 against the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.6745/6795.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said that during this interim period, market participants will closely observe data points such as the US Consumer Price Index (CPI).
“The consensus among analysts is that the headline CPI will likely show a 3.6 per cent increase in August, following a 3.2 per cent uptick in the previous month.
“Consequently, it is expected that the exchange rate for US dollar vs ringgit will fluctuate within the range of RM4.66 to RM4.68,” he told Bernama.
The ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It increased against the euro to 5.0030/0083 from Friday’s close of 5.0031/0085 and was up versus the British pound to 5.8310/8372 from 5.8352/8414
Meanwhile, it depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.1767/1803 from 3.1741/1777 previously.
The local note also traded stronger against other Asean currencies.
It appreciated vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.4227/4269 from 3.4277/4312 at Friday’s close and higher against the Indonesian rupiah at 304.6/305.1 from 304.9/305.4, rose against the Thai baht to 13.1220/1431 from 13.1591/1787 and was up against the Philippine peso at 8.24/8.26 from 8.25/8.26.
Short-terms rates remain stable
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 RM34.87 billion in the conventional system and RM23.50 billion in Islamic funds.
Today, the central bank will conduct two conventional money market tenders, namely a RM1 billion tender for seven days and a RM500 million tender for 14 days.
It will also call for two Qard tenders, comprising a RM1 billion tender for seven days and a RM500 million tender for 14 days, as well as two reverse repo tenders, consisting of a RM1.5 billion tender for 30 days and a RM500 million tender for 91 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, it will conduct up to RM35.4 billion conventional overnight tender and RM22.0 billion for Murabahah overnight tender.
Foreign exchange rates
Following are the opening Malaysian foreign exchange for major currencies today:
1 USD 4.6700/6750
100 yen 3.1767/1803
1 pound 5.8310/8372
1 euro 5.0030/0083
1 SGD 3.4227/4269
100 baht 13.1220/1431
1 mln rupiah 304.6/305.1
100 pesos 8.24/8.26
Exchange rates issued by Malayan Banking Bhd today
| SELLING TT/OD | BUYING TT | BUYING OD | |
| 1 US Dollar | 4.7360 | 4.6030 | 4.5930 |
| 1 Australian Dollar | 3.0460 | 2.9270 | 2.9110 |
| 1 Brunei Dollar | 3.4720 | 3.3730 | 3.3650 |
| 1 Canadian Dollar | 3.4720 | 3.3810 | 3.3690 |
| 1 Euro | 5.0850 | 4.9220 | 4.9020 |
| 1 New Zealand Dollar | 2.8080 | 2.7050 | 2.6890 |
| 1 Papua N Guinea Kina | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1 Singapore Dollar | 3.4720 | 3.3730 | 3.3650 |
| 1 Sterling Pound | 5.9250 | 5.7410 | 5.7210 |
| 1 Swiss Franc | 5.2960 | 5.1780 | 5.1630 |
| 100 UAE Dirham | 130.5400 | 123.8200 | 123.6200 |
| 100 Bangladesh Taka | 4.3990 | 4.1140 | 3.9140 |
| 100 Chinese Renminbi | 64.9700 | 62.2400 | N/A |
| 100 Danish Krone | 69.8800 | 64.3300 | 64.1300 |
| 100 Hongkong Dollar | 61.0800 | 58.0700 | 57.8700 |
| 100 Indian Rupee | 5.8000 | 5.4500 | 5.2500 |
| 100 Indonesian Rupiah | 0.0320 | 0.0290 | 0.0240 |
| 100 Japanese Yen | 3.2310 | 3.1300 | 3.1200 |
| 100 New Taiwan Dollar | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 100 Norwegian Krone | 45.6200 | 41.9700 | 41.7700 |
| 100 Pakistan Rupee | 1.5700 | 1.4700 | 1.2700 |
| 100 Philippine Peso | 8.4800 | 8.0000 | 7.8000 |
| 100 Qatar Riyal | 131.4500 | 124.7900 | 124.5900 |
| 100 Saudi Riyal | 127.7800 | 121.3100 | 121.1100 |
| 100 South Africa Rand | 25.7100 | 23.2200 | 23.0200 |
| 100 Sri Lanka Rupee | 1.5200 | 1.3900 | 1.1900 |
| 100 Swedish Krona | 44.0400 | 40.1200 | 39.9200 |
| 100 Thai Baht | 13.9200 | 12.3500 | 11.9500 |
Gold down
The physical price of gold as at 9.30 am stood at RM279.10 per gramme, down 81 sen from RM279.91 at 5 pm last Friday. – BERNAMA
