The ringgit opened strong against the US dollar today after surpassing the 4.63 level which was the position at the beginning of January 2024 as a result of increased confidence in the United States interest rate cut.
At 10.30 am, the ringgit was at a value of 4.6380, which remained at the opening position on Tuesday's Asian trade.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd's Chief Economist, Dr Afzanizam said the ringgit showed a positive trend as the expected US rate cut gained momentum.
He also said that the positive trend of the ringgit has led to the prospect of a lower interest rate difference between the Fed funds rate (5.50%) and Malaysia's overnight policy rate (3.00%) which is at a difference of 2.50%.
The USD/MYR range was able to hold around RM4.63 to RM4.64 as the market maintained a wait-and-see position ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The ringgit is expected to continue to trend higher because its current position is still resilient.
The local currency is also targeting a position of RM4.50 against the US dollar by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the local currency traded stronger against a basket of major currencies.
The ringgit rose against the euro to 5.0115/0191 from 5.0225/0252 at yesterday's close and strengthened against the Japanese yen to 3.0129/0177 from 3.0158/0176 previously.
However, it eased against the British pound to 5.9562/9652 from 5.9472/9504.
Against Asean currencies, it rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.4492/4547 from 3.4499/4521 yesterday, rose against the Thai baht to 12.8723/8993 from 12.8947/9063 previously.
The local currency opened almost flat against the Indonesian rupiah at 284.5/285.1 from 284.6/284.9 at yesterday's close and remained unchanged against the Philippine peso at 7.92/7.93.
