The ringgit bounced back against the US dollar in early trading on Monday as the USD fell slightly amid expectations the Federal Reserve (Fed) would continue to maintain its tight monetary policy stance.
At exactly 9am this morning, the ringgit strengthened at 4.7725 against the US dollar from where it closed around 4.7750 last Friday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid expects the ringgit to remain stable at around RM4.77 today with weak global market sentiment.
He also said that some Fed officials last week expressed their concern about premature easing following the rising inflation rate.
That sentiment has made the USD more prominent than the G7 currency group and led to higher demand in the market. It is experiencing some problems due to the effects of past monetary policy actions which have had a significant impact.
However, the ringgit traded mostly higher than the major currencies.
The local currency was higher against the British pound to 6.0425/0488 from 6.0437/0494 at Friday's close, up against the euro to 5.1619/1673 from 5.1656/1705 but lower against the Japanese yen at 3.1736/3777/1709.
At the same time, the ringgit is mixed against other Asean currencies.
It rose against the Philippine peso at 8.53/8.54 from 8.54/8.55 and higher against the Indonesian rupiah to 305.9/306.4 from 306.1/306.5 on Friday but slightly weaker against the Singapore dollar to 3.5494/5548 from 3. /5525 and depreciated against Thai baht at 13.2584/2782 versus 13.2198/2381.
