KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar this morning due to mild demand for the domestic note.
At 9 am, the local note rose to 4.6925/6970 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.6940/6980.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit’s appreciation was predictable as the local note has been in an oversold position from the technical standpoint.
“But whether the slight appreciation can be sustained remains to be seen due to prevailing concerns over the United States (US) Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting to decide on the US interest rates,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It increased against the Japanese yen to 3.1766/1799 from 3.1776/1806 at Tuesday’s close and climbed against the euro to 5.0139/0187 from 5.0160/0203 previously, but was slightly lower versus the British pound at 5.8135/8191 from 5.8126/8175 yesterday.
At the same time, the local note also traded mostly higher against other Asean currencies.
It appreciated vis-à-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.4385/4420 from 3.4436/4468 at yesterday’s close and strengthened versus the Thai baht to 13.0037/0208 from 13.0563/0718 previously.
It was also slightly better against the Indonesian rupiah at 305.0/305.5 from 305.1/305.6 on Tuesday and flat against the Philippines’ peso at 8.27/8.28 yesterday.
US dollar stay nearly flat
The US dollar ended nearly flat in late trading on Tuesday, as traders awaited the US central bank interest rate decisions this week, including one by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, reported Xinhua.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, decreased 0.04 per cent to 105.1584 in late trading.
Traders expect the Fed to keep rates on hold at its upcoming meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool, though the focus will be on the central bank’s forward guidance.
The US Census Bureau and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced on Tuesday the new residential construction statistics for August.
Privately-owned housing units authorised by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,543,000, which was 6.9 per cent above the revised July rate of 1,443,000, but 2.7 per cent below the August 2022 rate of 1,586,000.
“August’s home construction data appear to be showing some cracks in the armour of what has been one of the few strong indicators in the housing market recently,” said Daniel Vielhaber, an economist at Nationwide.
Housing starts tumbled 11.3 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.283 million units last month, the lowest level since June 2020.
Meanwhile, Canada’s annual inflation rate in August jumped to 4.0 per cent from 3.3 per cent in July on higher gasoline prices, data showed on Tuesday.
The Canadian dollar gained traction after the Canadian consumer prices index showed elevated inflation on both core and headline prints. In late New York trading, the US dollar decreased to 1.3442 Canadian dollars from 1.3496 Canadian dollars.
The euro fell to US$1.0677 from US$1.0679 in the previous session, and the British pound rose to US$1.2391 from US$1.2376.
The US dollar bought 147.8450 Japanese yen, higher than 147.7270 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar rose to 0.8982 Swiss francs from 0.8978 Swiss francs, and it was down to 11.1520 Swedish krona from 11.1694 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 RM35.37 billion in the conventional system and RM17.95 billion in Islamic funds.
Today, the central bank will conduct two conventional money market tenders, comprising a RM1 billion tender for seven days and a RM500 million tender for 14 days.
It will also call for two reverse repo tenders, namely 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 RM34.9 billion conventional overnight tender and RM18.0 billion for Murabahah overnight tender.
Foreign exchange rates
Following are the opening Malaysian foreign exchange for major currencies today:
1 USD 4.6925/6970
100 yen 3.1766/1799
1 pound 5.8135/8191
1 euro 5.0139/0187
1 SGD 3.4385/4420
100 baht 13.0037/0208
1 mln rupiah 305.0/305.5
100 pesos 8.27/8.28
Exchange rates issued by Malayan Banking Bhd today
| SELLING TT/OD | BUYING TT | BUYING OD | |
| 1 US Dollar | 4.7585 | 4.6255 | 4.6155 |
| 1 Australian Dollar | 3.0940 | 2.9720 | 2.9560 |
| 1 Brunei Dollar | 3.4880 | 3.3880 | 3.3800 |
| 1 Canadian Dollar | 3.5380 | 3.4450 | 3.4330 |
| 1 Euro | 5.0950 | 4.9320 | 4.9120 |
| 1 New Zealand Dollar | 2.8450 | 2.7410 | 2.7250 |
| 1 Papua N Guinea Kina | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1 Singapore Dollar | 3.4880 | 3.3880 | 3.3800 |
| 1 Sterling Pound | 5.9090 | 5.7260 | 5.7060 |
| 1 Swiss Franc | 5.2910 | 5.1690 | 5.1540 |
| 100 UAE Dirham | 131.1500 | 124.4200 | 124.2200 |
| 100 Bangladesh Taka | 4.4210 | 4.1340 | 3.9340 |
| 100 Chinese Renminbi | 65.3000 | 62.8000 | N/A |
| 100 Danish Krone | 70.0700 | 64.5100 | 64.3100 |
| 100 Hongkong Dollar | 61.5400 | 58.5000 | 58.3000 |
| 100 Indian Rupee | 5.8200 | 5.4600 | 5.2600 |
| 100 Indonesian Rupiah | 0.0320 | 0.0290 | 0.0240 |
| 100 Japanese Yen | 3.2270 | 3.1260 | 3.1160 |
| 100 New Taiwan Dollar | 15.9000 | N/A | N/A |
| 100 Norwegian Krone | 45.3800 | 41.7400 | 41.5400 |
| 100 Pakistan Rupee | 1.6400 | 1.5400 | 1.3400 |
| 100 Philippine Peso | 8.5100 | 8.0300 | 7.8300 |
| 100 Qatar Riyal | 132.0800 | 125.3900 | 125.1900 |
| 100 Saudi Riyal | 128.3900 | 121.8800 | 121.6800 |
| 100 South Africa Rand | 26.1000 | 23.5800 | 23.3800 |
| 100 Sri Lanka Rupee | 1.5100 | 1.3800 | 1.1800 |
| 100 Swedish Krona | 44.0300 | 40.1100 | 39.9100 |
| 100 Thai Baht | 13.7900 | 12.2400 | 11.8400 |
Gold down
The physical price of gold as at 9.30 am stood at RM281.60 per gramme, down 92 sen from RM282.52 at 5 pm yesterday. – BERNAMA
