KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar and major Asean currencies ahead of the release of the United States’ (US) inflation data, supported by soaring oil prices, said an analyst.
At 9 am, the local note rose to 4.6720/6760 against the greenback from Tuesday’s close of 4.6755/6805.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the ringgit opened stronger on the back of long dollar profit taking as well as high oil prices due to supply disruptions following the catastrophic flood in Libya.
“Traders have been buying lots of US dollars the past two weeks due to the resilient US economy and higher US yields.
“Since the release of the US consumer price index (CPI) is a high risk event for currency markets, traders are reducing long US dollar risk in case the print comes in softer than expected, and the dollar will sell off fairly aggressively,” he told Bernama.
At the same time, Innes said the China’s economic data are showing signs of stability, which is positive for the Asian foreign exchange market, but all eyes remained trained on the US CPI to be released tonight, which would likely provide the dollars next short term direction.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.
It ticked up against the Japanese yen to 3.1718/1747 from 3.1849/1886 on Tuesday’s close but fell againts British pound to 5.8372/8422 from 5.8299/8361 and depreciated vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0266/0309 from 5.0131/0184 previously.
Concurrently, the local note traded higher against other Asean currencies.
It improved vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.4325/4360 from 3.4338/4378 at Tuesday’s close and was marginally higher versus the Philippines’ peso at 8.24/8.26 from 8.25/8.26 yesterday.
The local note also rose against the Thai baht to 13.0967/1127 from 13.1157/1349 and edged up against the Indonesian rupiah to 304.5/304.9 from 304.7/305.2 previously.
US dollar rises ahead of CPI data
The US dollar gained in late trading on Tuesday, as investors waited for Wednesday’s US consumer price index (CPI) report, reported Xinhua.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.14 per cent to 104.7119 in late trading.
The US small business optimism index released by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) on Tuesday decreased to 91.3 in August, the 20th consecutive month below the 49-year average of 98.
About 23 per cent of small business owners reported that inflation was their single most important business problem, up two points from last month. The net percent of owners raising average selling prices increased two points to a net 27 per cent, still at an inflationary level.
In the eurozone, the Office for National Statistics of Britain released the labour market report on Tuesday. Unemployment rate rose to 4.3 per cent in the three months to July from 4.2 per cent a month earlier, its highest since the three months to the end of September 2021, but average weekly earnings growth in the three months to July rose to 8.5 per cent in annual terms, up from 8.4 per cent a month earlier and marking a new high, excluding distortions during the COVID-19 pandemic, in records dating back more than 20 years.
Investors believe that the British pay growth will put the Bank of England on track to raise interest rates once again.
In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.0732 US dollars from 1.0745 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.2485 US dollars from 1.2509 dollars.
The US dollar bought 147.1020 Japanese yen, higher than 146.4880 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar was up to 0.8912 Swiss francs from 0.8909 Swiss francs, and it was down to 1.3556 Canadian dollars from 1.3581 Canadian dollars. The US dollar was up to 11.1007 Swedish krona from 11.0756 Swedish krona.
Short-term 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 RM33.78 billion in the conventional system and RM17.77 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, as well as a RM1.5 billion reverse repo tender for 30 days.
BNM will also be issuing a RM1 billion Bank Negara Interbank Bills Islamic (BNIBI) tender for 31 days on Sept 15.
The central bank 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 RM33.8 billion conventional overnight tender and RM17.8 billion for Murabahah overnight tender.
Foreign exchange rates
Following are the opening Malaysian foreign exchange for major currencies today:
1 USD 4.6720/6760
100 yen 3.1718/1747
1 pound 5.8372/8422
1 euro 5.0266/0309
1 SGD 3.4325/4360
100 baht 13.0967/1127
1 mln rupiah 304.5/304.9
100 pesos 8.24/8.26
Exchange rates issued by Malayan Banking Bhd today
| SELLING TT/OD | BUYING TT | BUYING OD | |
| 1 US Dollar | 4.7390 | 4.6060 | 4.5960 |
| 1 Australian Dollar | 3.0650 | 2.9430 | 2.9270 |
| 1 Brunei Dollar | 3.4830 | 3.3840 | 3.3760 |
| 1 Canadian Dollar | 3.4960 | 3.4020 | 3.3900 |
| 1 Euro | 5.1100 | 4.9460 | 4.9260 |
| 1 New Zealand Dollar | 2.8140 | 2.7110 | 2.6950 |
| 1 Papua N Guinea Kina | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1 Singapore Dollar | 3.4830 | 3.3840 | 3.3760 |
| 1 Sterling Pound | 5.9350 | 5.7490 | 5.7290 |
| 1 Swiss Franc | 5.3060 | 5.1860 | 5.1710 |
| 100 UAE Dirham | 130.6300 | 123.9000 | 123.7000 |
| 100 Bangladesh Taka | 4.4020 | 4.1160 | 3.9160 |
| 100 Chinese Renminbi | 65.0000 | 62.6000 | N/A |
| 100 Danish Krone | 70.2200 | 64.6400 | 64.4400 |
| 100 Hongkong Dollar | 61.2200 | 58.2000 | 58.0000 |
| 100 Indian Rupee | 5.8200 | 5.4600 | 5.2600 |
| 100 Indonesian Rupiah | 0.0320 | 0.0290 | 0.0240 |
| 100 Japanese Yen | 3.2260 | 3.1250 | 3.1150 |
| 100 New Taiwan Dollar | 15.9000 | N/A | N/A |
| 100 Norwegian Krone | 45.6600 | 42.0000 | 41.8000 |
| 100 Pakistan Rupee | 1.6100 | 1.5100 | 1.3100 |
| 100 Philippine Peso | 8.5000 | 8.0100 | 7.8100 |
| 100 Qatar Riyal | 131.5500 | 124.8800 | 124.6800 |
| 100 Saudi Riyal | 127.8500 | 121.3700 | 121.1700 |
| 100 South Africa Rand | 25.9900 | 23.4800 | 23.2800 |
| 100 Sri Lanka Rupee | 1.5100 | 1.3900 | 1.1900 |
| 100 Swedish Krona | 44.1000 | 40.1700 | 39.9700 |
| 100 Thai Baht | 13.8900 | 12.3300 | 11.9300 |
Gold down
The physical price of gold as at 9.30 am stood at RM277.72 per gramme, down RM1.49 from RM279.21 at 5 pm yesterday. – BERNAMA
