The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar the local currency RM rose to 4.3600/3715 against the US dollar from 4.3675/3705 yesterday.

 The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar

04/09/2024 10:30 

The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar today due to selling activity in the US currency. 

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar today following selling activity in the United States (US) currency, analysts said.

At 8am, the local currency rose to 4.3600/3715 against the US dollar from 4.3675/3705 yesterday.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd's Chief Economist, Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, said the US equity market declined significantly following the US Institute of Supply Management's (ISM) Index for the manufacturing sector remaining in contraction for the fifth month in a row and falling short of market expectations.

The index read 47.2 in August, lower than the consensus estimate of 47.5 but higher than 46.8 the previous month.

"Risk assets such as equities declined while bond yields declined, indicating a shift to safe assets following fears of an economic slowdown," he told Bernama.

Mohd Afzanizam said the latest economic data also shows that the Federal Reserve is expected to start easing its monetary policy this month and that it needs to be firm to avoid the risk of recession.

"Accordingly, the US Dollar Index (DXY) increased by 0.09 percent to 101,741 points following the low main currency against the US dollar following high demand for the US currency," he said.

Therefore, he said, the ringgit may remain low due to increasing demand for the safe currency.

The ringgit traded mostly higher against a group of major currencies.

The local currency strengthened against the euro to 4.8165/8292 from 4.8208/8242 on Tuesday and rose against the pound to 5.7168/7319 from 5.7267/7306 previously.

However, it eased against the Japanese yen to 2.9984/3.0065 from 2.9921/9943 yesterday.

Meanwhile, the ringgit traded higher than ASEAN currencies.

The local currency rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.3359/3452 from 3.3360/3386, rose against the Thai baht to 12.7121/7572 from 12.7537/7680, rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 280.7/281.7 from 281.2/281.6 and rose against the Philippine peso to 7.70/7.72. from 7.71/7.72 yesterday. 

- BERNAMA