The Malaysian ringgit (RM) extended its gains on Wednesday by opening higher against the US dollar today as the USD retreated from multi-month highs following the withdrawal of US Treasury yields.
At exactly 9.00 am, the local currency rose to 4.7850 against the US dollar from where it closed at 4.7910 yesterday.
Bank Muamalat Bhd's Chief Economist, Mohd Afzanizam said the US Dollar Index (DXY) saw a 0.3% drop to 105,940 points despite uncertainty about the prospect of interest rate cuts.
On Tuesday, Jerome Powell said persistent inflation meant borrowing costs would remain elevated for longer than previously thought.
However, he said that deflationary trends in Europe continued with headline inflation and the Core Consumer Price index (CPI) declining in March to 2.4% and 2.6% respectively from earlier.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded lower than the major currencies except the British pound.
It eased against the euro to 5.1056/1093 from 5.0981/1024 at Wednesday's close, eased against the Japanese yen to 3.1013/1038 from 3.0990/1018 but strengthened against the British pound to 5.9588/96972 from earlier.
The local note traded higher against Asean currencies except the Singapore dollar
It rose against the Thai baht to 13.0108/0250 compared to 13.0194/13.0373 at the close and rose on Wednesday against the Indonesian rupiah to 294.9/295.3 from 295.3/295.7 yesterday.
The ringgit also rose against the Philippine peso to 8.36/8.39 from 8.37/8.39 on Wednesday but eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.5184/5212 from 3.5171/5200 previously.
