The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar this morning as investors viewed Malaysia’s political and policy stability as a good bet among emerging markets, boosting the currency’s appeal amid mixed global sentiment.
At 9am, the ringgit was at 4.4260, up 0.18% against the US dollar from its close of 4.4355 at the close of trading on Tuesday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said despite global challenges, the ringgit remained resilient, gaining 0.85% year-to-date and ranked as the fourth best-performing currency in Asia.
According to Bloomberg data, Malaysia is the fourth-best performing emerging currency, behind the Japanese yen, Singapore dollar and the Chinese renminbi.
In contrast, key emerging market peers Indonesia and Turkey faced sharp sell-offs last week, weighing on sentiment across asset classes.
Afzanizam added that the USD/MYR pair is hovering around its immediate resistance level of RM4.4463, while technical indicators suggest the ringgit remains in the neutral zone indicating limited movement in the near term.
Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY) has fluctuated around 104 points, as the latest economic data showed consumers becoming more cautious about the US economic outlook.
The ringgit is trading higher against a basket of major currencies.
It rose against the euro to 4.7838/4.7914 from 4.7908/4.7946 at yesterday's close but weakened against the British pound to 5.7394/5.7484 from 5.7351/5.7396 and fell against the yen to 2.9572/2.9620 from 2.9480/2.9503.
The local currency is mostly higher against Asean currencies.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.3184/3.3241 from 3.3158/3.3186 at the previous close and weakened against the Thai baht to 13.1071/13.1418 from 13.0633/13.0813.
It was unchanged against the Philippine peso at 7.70/7.71 from 7.73/7.74 and unchanged against the Indonesian rupiah at 266.9/267.4 from 266.9/267.3 yesterday.
