KUALA LUMPUR (March 18): The ringgit opened in a relief rally by gaining 100 basis points (bps) against the US dollar following the dovish Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) outcome which decided to keep US interest rates near zero.
At 9am, the local note had advanced to 4.1090/1130 against the greenback from 4.1190/1240 at yesterday’s close.
Axi chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said the US dollar was weaker across the board after the FOMC credible dovish messaging concluded yesterday.
“So, the ringgit should see a bit of a relief rally today,” he told Bernama in a note.
However, against other major currencies, the ringgit was traded mostly lower, except versus the Japanese yen.
It depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.0678/0715 from 3.0593/0637 at yesterday’s close, declined against the British pound to 5.7407/7471 from 5.7250/7332 and fell versus the euro to 4.9250/9303 from 4.9053/9129 previously.
The local currency rose against the Japanese yen to 3.7708/7751 from 3.7751/7807 yesterday.- The Edge Market