adminKUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit ended Friday’s trading session stronger against the United States (US) dollar, driven by activity hunting for low-priced stocks even though the US is expected to raise its key interest rate later today.
At 6pm, the ringgit was at 4.0715/0765 against the US dollar from 4.0840/0880 at the close of trading yesterday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit strengthened to RM4.0673 against the US dollar in the early session before falling to RM4.0743 at noon and rising again later.
He said the US Dollar Index (DXY) also remained supported at 101.182 points as expectations of a hike in the US key interest rate remained significant.
“Based on interest rate futures contracts, the possibility of interest rate increases in October and December is now at 70.9 percent and 80.6 percent respectively, which is an increase from 55.4 percent and 77.6 percent last Monday,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was also mostly traded stronger against other major currency groups.
This included an increase against the euro to 4.6378/6435 from 4.6451/6497 at yesterday’s close, an increase against the British pound to 5.3907/3973 from 5.4023/4076 but a decrease against the Japanese yen to 2.5764/5797 from 2.5723/5750, previously.
Apart from that, the ringgit was traded mixed against other ASEAN currencies at the end of today’s trading.
The ringgit strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.1858/1900 from 3.1906/1940 yesterday and rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 227.4/227.8 from 227.9/228.2.
However, the ringgit depreciated against the Thai baht to 12.2036/2234 from 12.1950/2121 yesterday and was lower against the Philippine peso to 6.52/6.53 from 6.51/6.52.
— BERNAMA
