KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened almost flat against the US dollar in early trade today but was higher against other major currencies as market participants remain cautious about global monetary policy tightening measures.
At 9 am, the local note decreased to 4.5060/5125 against the greenback compared with 4.5050/5090 at Monday’s close.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the spotlight today will be on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision regarding the benchmark interest rate.
“The market anticipates a 25 basis point increase in the cash rate, which presently stands at 4.10 per cent. Although Australia’s inflation rate has decreased to 6.0 per cent in the second quarter of 2023 from 7.0 per cent previously, it remains higher than the target.
“The USD/MYR exchange rate may stabilise at its current level of 4.50,” he told Bernama.
He said that presently, the support and resistance levels are situated at RM4.4872 and RM4.5491 respectively.
In the meantime, the ringgit traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
It increased against the Japanese yen to 3.1619/1667 from 3.1658/1689 on Monday, firmed versus the euro to 4.9516/9588 from 4.9690/9734 and improved vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.7807/7891 from 5.7916/7968 previously.
At the same time, the local unit traded mixed against other Asean currencies.
The ringgit rose versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3875/3926 from 3.3877/3910 at the close on Monday and went up vis-a-vis the Thai baht at 13.1485/1752 from 13.1594/1765 previously.
However, the ringgit was lower versus the Philippine peso to 8.21/8.23 from 8.20/8.22 previously and the Indonesian rupiah to 298.7/299.3 from 298.6/299.1 at yesterday’s close.
US dollar strengthens
The US dollar strengthened on Monday, as the Japanese yen fell and the Japanese government bond yields increased, reported Xinhua.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.22 per cent to 101.8504 in late trading.
The 10-year Japanese government bond traded at its highest yield since 2014 above 0.60 per cent. The move came hot on the heels of Friday’s Bank of Japan adjustment to yield curve control.
The bank also announced an unscheduled bond-buying programme on Monday, a plan for 5-10-year government bonds with a scale of 300 billion yen.
In reaction to mixed economic reports, the Japanese yen continued to decline as the biggest underperformer on Monday. The US dollar bought 142.2640 Japanese yen, much higher than 141.1080 Japanese yen of the previous session.
On Monday, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index improved to 42.8 in July from 41.5 in June.
Meanwhile, the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas revealed that the headline manufacturing business index edged higher to -20 in July from -23.2 in June.
In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.0999 US dollars from 1.1023 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.2837 US dollars from 1.2855 dollars.
The US dollar was up to 0.8718 Swiss francs from 0.8695 Swiss francs, and it decreased to 1.3176 Canadian dollars from 1.3240 Canadian dollars. The US dollar was down to 10.5112 Swedish Krona from 10.5354 Swedish Krona.
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 RM34.99 billion in the conventional system and RM25.03 billion in Islamic funds.
Today, the central bank will conduct a RM1 billion conventional money market tender for seven days and a Qard tender of RM400 million for seven days.
It 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 RM34 billion conventional overnight tender and RM24.6 billion for murabahah overnight tender.
Foreign exchange rates
Following are the opening Malaysian foreign exchange for major currencies today:
1 USD 4.5060/5125
100 yen 3.1619/1667
1 pound 5.7807/7891
1 euro 4.9516/9588
1 SGD 3.3875/3926
100 baht 13.1485/1752
1 mln rupiah 298.7/299.3
100 pesos 8.21/8.23
Exchange rates issued by Malayan Banking Bhd today
| SELLING TT/OD | BUYING TT | BUYING OD | |
| 1 US Dollar | 4.5750 | 4.4410 | 4.4210 |
| 1 Australian Dollar | 3.0910 | 2.9690 | 2.9350 |
| 1 Brunei Dollar | 3.4390 | 3.3400 | 3.3220 |
| 1 Canadian Dollar | 3.4650 | 3.3720 | 3.3410 |
| 1 Euro | 5.0380 | 4.8750 | 4.8590 |
| 1 New Zealand Dollar | 2.8530 | 2.7490 | 2.7330 |
| 1 Papua N Guinea Kina | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1 Singapore Dollar | 3.4390 | 3.3400 | 3.3220 |
| 1 Sterling Pound | 5.8780 | 5.6940 | 5.6740 |
| 1 Swiss Franc | 5.2340 | 5.1130 | 5.0990 |
| 100 UAE Dirham | 126.0400 | 119.5100 | 118.9700 |
| 100 Bangladesh Taka | 4.2880 | 4.0230 | 3.8580 |
| 100 Chinese Renminbi | 64.1000 | 61.6000 | N/A |
| 100 Danish Krone | 69.3000 | 63.7700 | 64.3000 |
| 100 Hongkong Dollar | 59.3000 | 56.3600 | 56.0200 |
| 100 Indian Rupee | 5.6600 | 5.3100 | 5.1000 |
| 100 Indonesian Rupiah | 0.0314 | 0.0284 | 0.0235 |
| 100 Japanese Yen | 3.2180 | 3.1170 | 3.1060 |
| 100 New Taiwan Dollar | 15.6000 | N/A | N/A |
| 100 Norwegian Krone | 46.4000 | 42.6700 | 42.1900 |
| 100 Pakistan Rupee | 1.6200 | 1.5200 | 1.3200 |
| 100 Philippine Peso | 8.4500 | 7.9700 | 7.7600 |
| 100 Qatar Riyal | 127.0300 | 120.5900 | 120.0100 |
| 100 Saudi Riyal | 123.3300 | 117.0800 | 116.6200 |
| 100 South Africa Rand | 26.5400 | 23.9700 | 24.0300 |
| 100 Sri Lanka Rupee | 1.4800 | 1.3600 | 1.1100 |
| 100 Swedish Krona | 44.8500 | 40.8500 | 40.9500 |
| 100 Thai Baht | 13.9500 | 12.3800 | 12.0800 |
Gold down
The physical price of gold as at 9.30 am stood at RM275.04 per gramme, up RM1.74 from RM273.30 at 5 pm yesterday. — BERNAMA
