KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit opens lower against the US dollar today as the greenback remained firm while local market players await the release of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) overnight policy rate (OPR) announcement later today, analysts said.
At 9.01am, the ringgit eased to 4.7445/7470 versus the US dollar from yesterday’s close of 4.7390/7440.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said that the US dollar index continued to rise to 105.546 points, up 0.1%.
“Amid no significant data to make an economic deduction on where the rates will go, comments from the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) officials will be the major guidance, and so far, the Fed (officials) have been consistent in their messaging that inflation is still their ultimate concern.
“The Fed Reserve Bank of Boston president, Susan Collins, indicated that interest rates will likely need to stay high for a protracted period in order to suppress demand and lower price pressures,” he said.
On that note, the ringgit is likely to stay weak, with technical readings pointing out that the local currency is near an overbought position, said Afzanizam.
“Today’s focus will be on the BNM’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting decision. All economists are expecting the OPR to remain unchanged at 3.00%.
“It is interesting to see BNM’s latest assessment on inflation in light of the recent policy changes, namely the flexible withdrawal from retirement funds and salary adjustment for civil servants,” he added.
Meanwhile, ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the US dollar held steady against the ringgit early on Thursday, marking a clear trend of indecision among traders, especially given the lack of macroeconomic indicators.
“From a technical point of view, the USD/MYR is in an important support region, characterised by the rising trend line on the daily chart.
“If the ringgit manages to break below the 4.7300 level, it is possible that it could fall as low as 4.6750 in a few days. On the other hand, a break above the 4.7500 level could see USD/MYR rise towards the 4.7900 region,” he said.
The ringgit traded mostly easier against a basket of major currencies, except against the Japanese yen.
It rose versus the Japanese yen to 3.0484/0502 from yesterday’s close of 3.0495/0530, weakened vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9254/9285 from 5.9209/9272 yesterday and fell against the euro to 5.0970/0997 from 5.0954/1007 previously.
The local note also traded mostly lower against Asean currencies.
The ringgit depreciated against the Thai baht to 12.8299/8408 from yesterday’s 12.8188/8383, slipped versus the Singapore dollar to 3.4984/5005 from 3.4956/4996, and dropped against the Indonesian rupiah to 295.6/295.9 from 295.2/295.7.
The local note was flat vis-a-vis the Philippine peso at 8.26/8.27.
Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia staged a rebound to open higher in early trade today on continuous buying momentum despite the mixed performance on the Wall Street overnight, a dealer said.
At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.36 points to 1,606.11 from yesterday’s close of 1,604.75.
The benchmark index opened 1.46 points better at 1,606.21.
In the broader market, gainers outnumbered decliners 187 to 134, while 300 counters remained unchanged, with 1,707 untraded and 12 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 209.58 million units worth RM90.07 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, in a note, said the FBM KLCI remained in upbeat sentiment despite encountering some selling pressure during yesterday’s afternoon session.
It viewed yesterday’s intermittent correction as healthy and may act as a solid foundation for the local bourse’s ongoing uptrend.
“For today, we expect the index to hover between 1,600 and 1,615 as we believe foreign funds will continue to snap up local heavyweights,” it said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank eased one sen to RM9.79, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM4.20 and RM6.31, respectively, Tenaga Nasional lost two sen to RM12.38, and CIMB rose two sen to RM6.76.
As for the actives, Ingenieur was half-a-sen lower at 7.5 sen, Jiankun was unchanged at 17 sen, while Harvest Miracle and Iconic gained half-a-sen each to 12 sen and 12.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM emas index rose 9.22 points to 12,117.06, the FBMT 100 index advanced 7.21 points to 11,734.61 and the FBM emas shariah index added 6.96 points to 12,344.53.
Meanwhile, the FBM 70 index shed 0.65 of-a-point to 17,005.24 and the FBM ACE index slipped 1.53 points to 5,134.52.
Sector-wise, the financial services index climbed 9.01 points to 17,484.97, the industrial products and services index edged up 0.19 of-a-point to 193.11, the plantation index increased 13.28 points to 7,514.14, and the energy index rose 5.20 points to 986.51. – May 9, 2024