KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened almost unchanged against the United States (US) dollar from yesterday’s close as the market awaits the latest decision from Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) scheduled to be announced on May 7.
At 8am, the local currency was at 3.9540/9590 against the US dollar at 3.9540/9575 when it closed on Monday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist, Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said that although the market is taking a wait-and-see approach ahead of the MPC meeting, the fighting in the Persian Gulf between the United States (US) and Iranian forces has the potential to affect the ceasefire.
“Elevated tensions in West Asia resulted in global oil benchmark prices, WTI and Brent crude oil, jumping by 4.39 percent and 5.80 percent to US$106.42 per barrel and US$114.44 per barrel respectively.
At the opening of trading, the ringgit traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
The local unit rose against the Japanese yen to 2.5151/5184 from 2.5186/5210 at yesterday’s close, rose against the British pound to 5.3498/3565 from 5.3612/3660 and gained against the euro to 4.6230/6289 from 4.6329/6370 previously.
Meanwhile, the local currency is trading higher compared to the currencies of ASEAN countries.
The ringgit rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0963/1005 from 3.1019/1049 at Monday’s close, gained against the Thai baht to 12.0740/0963 from 12.1460/1631, gained against the Indonesian rupiah to 227.3/227.6 from 227.3/227.6, however was unchanged against the Philippine peso at 6.42/6.43.
— BERNAMA
