Ringgit up slightly against dollar ahead of US GDP data

THE ringgit traded marginally higher at the close yesterday against the US dollar ahead of first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data in the US later last night.

At 6pm, the ringgit climbed to 4.7745/7775 against the greenback from Wednesday’s close of 4.7765/7780.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid observed that while the ringgit was up, the Indonesian rupiah and the Japanese yen weakened versus the US dollar. He noted that the Indonesian rupiah fell despite yesterday’s surprise interest rate increase.

The Bank of Indonesia (BI) raised their policy rate by 25 basis points to 6.25% to strengthen its currency and as a preemptive measure to contain inflation. The Japanese yen continued its fall, easing 0.21% to 155.68 yen against the US dollar.

The ringgit was mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

It rose vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.0677/0698 from 3.0830/0840 at Wednesday’s close but eased versus the British pound to 5.9748/9786 from 5.9362/9381 and fell against the euro to 5.1211/1243 from 5.1046/1062 previously.

The ringgit traded mostly higher against Asean currencies. The local currency appreciated versus the Thai baht to 12.8939/9087 against 12.9004/9097 from yesterday’s close and was better versus the Philippine peso at 8.26/8.27 from 8.30/8.31 on Wednesday.

It rose vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 294.9/295.2 from 295.6/295.9 on Wednesday but slid against the Singapore dollar to 3.5120/5144 from 3.5090/5104 previously.