KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar in early trade today due to the lack of interest.
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At 9.07 am, the local note decreased to 4.5250/5285 against the greenback compared with 4.5175/5200 at Tuesday’s close.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said that the US Dollar Index (DXY) initially rose to a high of 102.41 before retracting to 102.30 points yesterday.
“Simultaneously, Fitch Rating downgraded the United States government’s AAA rating to AA+, citing concerns over weak governance and prolonged debt ceiling negotiations as key factors.
“Despite these developments, the conflicting data presents a mixed signal, as a sovereign rating downgrade typically corresponds to a weaker US currency,” he told Bernama, adding that the MYR/USD may move within a narrow range of RM4.51-RM4.52 today.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
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It dropped against the euro to 4.9766/9804 from 4.9584/9612 at Tuesday’s close but firmed against the Japanese yen 3.1623/1650 from 3.1666/1686 yesterday and improved vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.7839/7883 from 5.7892/7924 previously.
At the same time, the local unit was traded mixed against other Asean currencies.
The ringgit rose versus the Thai baht to 13.1744/1903 from 13.1852/1982 yesterday and was unchanged versus the Philippines’ peso at 8.24/8.25 at the close on Tuesday.
It had also depreciated against the Indonesian rupiah to 299.3/299.7 from 298.8/299.1 yesterday and was lower against the Singapore dollar to 3.3877/3909 from 3.3872/3893 previously. – Bernama