KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 9): The ringgit opened marginally higher against the US dollar on Friday morning (Sept 9), extending Thursday’s upward momentum, as risk appetite in the market improved, a dealer said.
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At 9 am, the local currency had risen to 4.4960/4995 against the greenback, from Thursday’s close at 4.5010/5040.
The dealer said Bank Negara Malaysia’s move to raise the overnight policy rate by 25 basis points (bps) on Thursday managed to offset the effects of US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish stance.
Elsewhere, the European Central Bank raised interest rates by an unprecedented 75 bps to 0.75% in a bid to tame inflation.
Consequently, the interest rate of the main refinancing operations has also gone up to 1.25%, the highest level since 2011, while that of the marginal lending facility increased to 1.5% and the deposit facility to 0.75%.
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Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local unit depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.2062/2089 from Thursday’s close at 3.2015/2041, weakened versus the pound to 5.1897/1938 from 5.1730/1764, and decreased against the euro to 4.5162/5197 from 4.4996/5026.
However, the ringgit rose vis-a-vis the yen to 3.1268/1294 from 3.1285/1308 previously.-BERNAMA