KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit extended its losses when it opened lower against the US dollar today amid weaker market sentiment on the local currency, an economist said.
At 9 am, the local note slipped to 4.6325/6385 against the greenback from 4.6265/6350 at yesterday’s close.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit also weakened against the British pound and euro following a hawkish stand at the Bank of England and the European Central Bank.
“The external environment looks increasingly wobbly as major central banks remain adamant in their resolve to lower inflation.
“On that note, USD/MYR is expected to linger around 4.62 in light of weak market sentiments,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
It depreciated versus the British pound to 5.9296/9373 from 5.9242/9351 on Monday, fell against the Japanese yen to 3.2598/2643 from 3.2588/2650 and weakened vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0582/0648 from 5.0470/0563 previously.
Similarly, the local note traded lower against other Asean currencies.
The ringgit declined against the Thai baht to 13.3152/3378 from yesterday’s 13.2926/3236 and went down against the Singapore dollar to 3.4540/4590 against 3.4490/4556.
It was lower versus the Indonesian rupiah at 308.9/309.4 from 308.5/309.2 and dropped against the Philippine peso to 8.31/8.33 from 8.30/8.32.
US dollar gains
The US dollar continued to strengthen on Monday due to investors’ rising safe haven demand, reported Xinhua.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.26 per cent at 102.5239 in late trading.
The fall of major stock indexes in the world on Monday drove up risk aversion among investors though the US stock market remained closed on the occasion of a federal holiday.
The US dollar index received strong support near the 102 level and is slowly moving toward the next resistance in the range of 103.25 to 103.45, according to Vladimir Zernov, analyst with market information supplier FX Empire.
The US dollar slumped last Thursday and then saw modest rebound after tested 102.01 on Friday.
In late New York trading, the euro decreased to US$1.0919 from US$1.0942 in the previous session, and the British pound fell to US$1.2779 from US$1.2831 in the previous session.
The US dollar bought 141.9470 Japanese yen, higher than 141.8160 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar rose to 0.8962 Swiss francs from 0.8937 Swiss francs, and it rose to 1.3214 Canadian dollars from 1.3183 Canadian dollars. The US dollar was up to 10.7285 Swedish Krona from 10.6299 Swedish Krona.
Short-term rates
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 RM45.08 billion in the conventional system and RM30.21 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 RM1.5 billion tender for seven days and a RM500 million tender for 21 days.
It will also conduct two reverse repo tenders consisting of a RM1.8 billion tender for 30 days and a RM300 million tender for 92 days.
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, BNM will conduct up to RM45.2 billion conventional overnight tender and RM27.2 billion for murabahah overnight tender.
Foreign exchange rates
Following are the opening Malaysian foreign exchange for major currencies today:
1 USD 4.6325/6385
100 yen 3.2598/2643
1 pound 5.9296/9373
1 euro 5.0582/0648
1 SGD 3.4540/4590
100 baht 13.3152/3378
1 mln rupiah 308.9/309.4
100 pesos 8.31/8.33
Gold down
The physical price of gold as at 9.30 am stood at RM280.92 per gramme, down 37 sen from RM281.29 at 5.00 pm yesterday. – BERNAMA
