KUALA LUMPUR (June 18): The ringgit opened at a multiple-week low against the US dollar today as traders continued to offload emerging currencies on the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) hawkish stance on its monetary policy.
At 9am, the local note had slipped further to 4.1415/1440 versus the greenback from 4.1390/1400 at yesterday’s close.
This was the lowest level last seen on May 31, 2021, when the ringgit opened at 4.1420/1500 against the greenback.
ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the ringgit continued to lose ground against the US dollar since the last Federal Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) report released yesterday.
“As the market is seeing a possibility that the Fed will increase interest rates earlier than previously forecast, the most likely scenario is that the US dollar-ringgit pair would keep going up until it reaches the 4.1750 level as a first target, and the 4.2200 level as a final projection.
“This could be reached in a matter of two to four months,” he told Bernama.
It was reported that the Fed had signalled that it could raise interest rates in 2023, a year earlier than expected in the two-day FOMC meeting ended early yesterday.
At the opening, the ringgit was mixed against a basket of major currencies.
It strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.0840/0861 versus 3.0918/0930 at yesterday’s close, firmed against the pound to 5.7695/7730 from 5.7826/7840, and advanced against the euro to 4.9313/9343 from 4.9465/9477.
Vis-a-vis the yen, the local note, however, weakened to 3.7541/7563 from 3.7389/7402 previously.-BERNAMA