KUALA LUMPUR (June 25): The ringgit extended yesterday’s gains against the US dollar this morning, supported by steady crude oil prices and improved risk appetite, dealers said.
At 9.16am, the local note rose to 4.1550/1575 versus the greenback from 4.1580/1610 at Thursday’s close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the news about the US President Joe Biden’s infrastructure spending plans worth US$579 billion was likely to take centre stage today.
“The latest development appears to have reinvigorated the view that the US recovery is taking hold, leading to risk-on mode to be prevalent as reflected by the rise in equity prices last night.
“Alongside sustained Brent crude oil prices which hover around US$75 per barrel, the ringgit could be well supported against the US dollar today,” he told Bernama
Hong Leong Bank Research said the US dollar was overall roughly flat for Thursday, with the US Dollar Index (DXY) closing at 91.81.
“This came as initial jobless claims stayed steady compared to last week in the United States. We anticipate some range movements around 91.40 to 92.40 in today’s session, as markets consolidate post-dollar rally.
“The greenback retraced to just below 4.16 after being overbought yesterday and is likely to trade on a more neutral note today against the ringgit, possibly within a tight range of 4.1550 to 4.1650 ahead of the weekend and a general lack of market drivers,” it noted.
At the opening, the ringgit was mostly higher against a basket of major currencies, except versus the Singapore dollar.
It rose against the British pound to 5.7842/7877 from 5.8050/8092 at Thursday’s close, improved against the Japanese yen to 3.7456/7482 from 3.7507/7534 and appreciated vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9594/9624 from 4.9655/9691.
In contrast, the local note slipped against the Singapore dollar to 3.0954/0975 versus 3.0949/0974 yesterday.-BERNAMA