KUALA LUMPUR (June 17): The ringgit continued to remain strong against the US dollar for the third consecutive day on Friday (June 17) as weak greenback sentiment helped to spur appetite for emerging-market currencies, including the ringgit, dealers said.
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At 9am, the local currency had appreciated to 4.3950/3975 against the greenback from Thursday’s close at 4.4020/4045.
Bank Islam chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said talk of a possible global recession is gaining momentum with major central banks maintaining their stance to increase their policy rates to bring down inflation.
“The Bank of England appears to be playing catch up with the US Federal Reserve as it decided to raise its rate by 25 basis points to 1.25%.
“Consequently, risky assets like equities tumbled, while US Treasury yields fell as investors sought for shelter against market volatility,” he told Bernama.
Previously, the US Fed announced an increase in its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points to between 1.5% and 1.75% in its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on June 14 and 15, the biggest hike since 1994.
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“As for the US dollar/ringgit [pair], it’s going to stay weak as demand for the safe-haven greenback is expected to be prevalent following heightening concern over global economic prospects,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local note declined against the British pound to 5.4173/4204 from Thursday’s close at 5.3396/3427, depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.1733/1755 from 3.1687/1710 and went down vis-a-vis the euro to 4.6319/6345 from 4.5798/5824 previously.
However, it strengthened versus the Japanese yen to 3.2998/3019 from 3.3128/3149 on Thursday.-BERNAMA