The ringgit now opened higher than yesterday against the US dollar and is likely to receive less attention as the market is still awaiting the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting early Thursday morning.
According to the Chief Economist of Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd, Afzanizam Rashid said any comments that show 'dovish' by the Federal Reserve (Fed) will give positive movement to the ringgit currency.
He also said that the FOMC statement will probably mention the latest quarterly projections for macroeconomic variables in 2024, 2025 and 2026. The market is now in wait and see mode.
Yesterday, the announcement of the reshuffle of the Malaysian Cabinet also had a positive effect on the ringgit. However, the movement will only have an impact in the medium term as it requires the implementation of new policies and outputs.
ActivTrades Trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Dinit attributed the market to being somewhat tight now due to uncertainty by the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data which was at 3.1% and 4.0% in line with market expectations.
At 9am, the ringgit rose to 4.6815/4.6888 against the US dollar from 4.6830/4.6855 at Tuesday's close.
The ringgit also traded better against a group of major world currencies such as the British pound to 5.8790/5.8872 from 5.8842/5.8873 and appreciated against the euro to 5.0532/5.0602 from 5.0548/5.0575. It also strengthened against the Japanese yen to 3.3222.222/3.2222.
The ringgit is also trading higher than other Asean currencies.
It rose against the Philippine peso to 8.40/8.42 compared to closing at 8.42/8.43 and rose slightly against the Indonesian rupiah to 299.6/300.2 from 299.7/300.1.
