KUALA LUMPUR (June 20): The ringgit opened flat against the US dollar on Monday (June 20) on a lack of fresh buying interest, said a dealer.
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At 9.10am, the local currency was traded at 4.4000/4045 against the greenback from last Friday’s close at 4.4000/4040.
Bank Islam chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the market will be looking for clues in the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting in July.
According to a news report, Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell expects a 50 to 75-basis-point rate hike will be most likely next month.
“The way we see it, in the absence possible pause in the Fed rate, emerging market currencies will remain soft.
“This week, Fed chair is also expected to present to the US Senate on June 22 the state of the monetary policy,” he told Bernama.
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Mohd Afzanizam said the local currency is expected to remain weak around 4.40 against the greenback on concerns over an agressive monetary tightening by the Fed, which will be the driving force for a stronger US dollar.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
The local note rose against the British pound to 5.3794/3849 from last Friday’s close at 5.4208/4257 and improved versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1680/1717 from 3.1753/1786 previously.
It appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.2554/2590 from 3.2655/2688 and went up vis-a-vis the euro to 4.6191/6238 from 4.6314/6357 previously.-BERNAMA