KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit rebounded this morning after a week of losses despite the greenback firming after an unexpected drop in US unemployment benefits.
At 9 am, the local note improved to 4.6730/6780 against the greenback from Thursday’s close of 4.6755/6795.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the latest US labour market indicator continued to point to a firm American economy.
The initial jobless claims fell to 216,000 last week from the week before of 229,000, while continuing claims also declined to 1.679 million, well below the consensus forecast of 1.719 million.
Consequently, the US Dollar Index (DXY) jumped to 105.059 points, with the greenback in high demand as the US Federal Reserve (Fed) is expected to maintain its hawkish stance.
“Perhaps there could have been some intervention that helped push the ringgit higher this morning.
“Nevertheless, technical indicators such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) for the ringgit is near oversold conditions, (but) the ringgit could stay weak at around RM4.67 to RM4.69 (against the US dollar),” he told Bernama.
The ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It increased against the euro to 5.0062/0115 from Thursday’s close of 5.0093/0136 but declined versus the British pound to 5.8356/8419 from 5.8289/8339 and against the Japanese yen to 3.1774/1810 from 3.1707/1736 previously.
The local note traded mixed against other Asean currencies.
It appreciated vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.4249/42895 from 3.4270/4305 at yesterday’s close and higher against the Indonesian rupiah at 304.8/305.3 from 305.0/305.4.
The ringgit went down versus the Thai baht to 13.1378/1571 from 13.1301/1469 and was flat against the Philippine peso at 8.23/8.25 from 8.23/8.24 previously.
Us dollar rises amid strong job data
The US dollar increased in late trading on Thursday, as US jobless claims outperformed the expectation, fueling a Fed rate hike speculation, reported Xinhua.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.19 per cent to 105.0588 in late trading.
US initial jobless benefit claims fell by 13,000 to 216,000 in the week ending Sept. 2, hitting the lowest level since mid-February, the US Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) said Thursday. The claims have fallen for four weeks in a row.
The unemployment report for August released last week indicated strong hiring with gradual softening in labour, said Michael Feroli, chief US economist at JP Morgan Chase. “There is still no sign that companies are laying off workers.”
The nonfarm business sector labour productivity increased 3.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2023, the BLS also reported Thursday. Output increased 1.9 per cent and hours worked decreased 1.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2023.
“With oil prices on the rise and consumption remaining strong, investors are bracing for a slower disinflation process and a more gradual pivot toward rate cuts from the Federal Reserve,” said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Corpay.
Earlier in the European session, Eurostat revealed that the bloc’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter grew by just 0.1 per cent, lower than the 0.3 per cent expected by the markets.
In late New York trading, the euro was down to 1.0695 US dollars from 1.0725 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.2470 US dollars from 1.2505 dollars in the previous session.
The US dollar bought 147.1700 Japanese yen, lower than 147.6910 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar was up to 0.8928 Swiss francs from 0.8915 Swiss francs, and it rose to 1.3682 Canadian dollars from 1.3653 Canadian dollars. The US dollar rose to 11.1429 Swedish krona from 11.1229 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 RM36.93 billion in the conventional system and RM24.03 billion in Islamic funds.
Today, the central bank will conduct two conventional money market tenders worth RM1 billion for seven days and RM500 million for 14 days.
It will also call for two reverse repo tenders, comprising a RM1.5 billion tender for 31 days and a RM500 million tender for 91 days, as well as a RM500 million Qard tender for seven 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 an RM37.4 billion conventional overnight tender and RM23.5 billion for Murabahah overnight tender.
Foreign exchange rates
Following are the opening Malaysian foreign exchange for major currencies today:
1 USD 4.6730/6780
100 yen 3.1774/1810
1 pound 5.8356/8419
1 euro 5.0062/0115
1 SGD 3.4249/4289
100 baht 13.1378/1571
1 mln rupiah 304.8/305.3
100 pesos 8.23/8.25
Exchange rates issued by Malayan Banking Bhd today
| SELLING TT/OD | BUYING TT | BUYING OD | |
| 1 US Dollar | 4.7400 | 4.6070 | 4.5995 |
| 1 Australian Dollar | 3.0410 | 2.9210 | 2.9060 |
| 1 Brunei Dollar | 3.4730 | 3.3740 | 3.3690 |
| 1 Canadian Dollar | 3.4620 | 3.3710 | 3.3700 |
| 1 Euro | 5.0840 | 4.9210 | 4.9130 |
| 1 New Zealand Dollar | 2.8020 | 2.7010 | 2.6770 |
| 1 Papua N Guinea Kina | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1 Singapore Dollar | 3.4730 | 3.3740 | 3.3690 |
| 1 Sterling Pound | 5.9270 | 5.7440 | 5.7340 |
| 1 Swiss Franc | 5.3010 | 5.1810 | 5.1730 |
| 100 UAE Dirham | 130.6400 | 123.9200 | 123.7800 |
| 100 Bangladesh Taka | 4.4030 | 4.1170 | 3.9190 |
| 100 Chinese Renminbi | 65.1500 | 62.4200 | N/A |
| 100 Danish Krone | 69.8600 | 64.3100 | 64.2800 |
| 100 Hongkong Dollar | 61.1700 | 58.1500 | 57.9400 |
| 100 Indian Rupee | 5.8000 | 5.4500 | 5.2400 |
| 100 Indonesian Rupiah | 0.0320 | 0.0290 | 0.0241 |
| 100 Japanese Yen | 3.2290 | 3.1280 | 3.1040 |
| 100 New Taiwan Dollar | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 100 Norwegian Krone | 45.5300 | 41.8900 | 41.6000 |
| 100 Pakistan Rupee | 1.5800 | 1.4700 | 1.2700 |
| 100 Philippine Peso | 8.4700 | 7.9900 | 7.7600 |
| 100 Qatar Riyal | 131.5700 | 124.9000 | 124.7700 |
| 100 Saudi Riyal | 127.8800 | 121.4000 | 121.2600 |
| 100 South Africa Rand | 25.6600 | 23.1800 | 22.9200 |
| 100 Sri Lanka Rupee | 1.5100 | 1.3900 | 1.1900 |
| 100 Swedish Krona | 43.9600 | 40.0600 | 39.9100 |
| 100 Thai Baht | 13.9000 | 12.3400 | 11.9600 |
Gold up
The physical price of gold as at 9.30 am stood at RM279.75 per gramme, up 59 sen from RM279.16 at 5 pm yesterday. – BERNAMA
