The ringgit extended its positive outlook against the US dollar which weakened on greater uncertainty over the US government’s import tariffs, leading to weaker business and consumer sentiment.
At 9.30am, the ringgit was at 4.4160, up 0.25% against the US dollar from its close of 4.4270 on Wednesday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said this scenario could lead to a pullback in spending by firms and households which would severely impact US economic growth.
He added that several major US investment banks were considering the possibility of a recession with the tariffs in place.
Afzanizam also noted that the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) decision today would see the overnight policy rate (OPR) remain unchanged at 3.00%.
As such, he said, USD/MYR would attempt to move towards the current support level of RM4.37.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
It was marginally lower against the Japanese yen to 2.9619/2.9722 from 2.9614/2.9647 at Wednesday's close, weaker against the British pound to 5.6840/5.7034 from 5.6825/5.6889, and fell against the euro to 4.7602/4.7763 from 4.7409/4.7462 yesterday.
In contrast, local currencies were mostly higher against Asean currencies.
The ringgit strengthened against the Indonesian rupiah to 270.3/271.3 from 271.3/271.8 on Wednesday, rose against the Philippine peso to 7.69/7.72 from 7.72/7.73, and rose against the Thai baht to 13.1211/13.1767 from 13.1211/13.1767 previously.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.3128/3.3246 from 3.3126/3.3166 yesterday.
