Ringgit opens flat as traders reassess US rate hike prospects

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened mostly flat against the US dollar on Monday as traders reassessed the likelihood of a United States interest rate hike following a weaker-than-expected US nonfarm payrolls (NFP) data.

At 8am, the local note stood at 4.0695/4.0780 against the greenback compared to 4.0690/4.0735 at Friday’s close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the US Federal Reserve (Fed) chair’s reluctance to provide forward guidance on interest rates helped to keep the ringgit stable.

“The US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes to be released this week will be the main focus, apart from Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Thursday,” he noted.

Both the FOMC minutes release and BNM’s MPC meeting are scheduled for Thursday, July 9.

At the opening, the ringgit was mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

It weakened against the euro to 4.6543/4.6640 from 4.6497/4.6612 at Friday’s close and depreciated against the British pound to 5.4336/5.4449 from 5.4296/5.4430 last week. However, it strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.5203/2.5257 from 2.5214/2.5277 previously.

Similarly, the local note traded lower against regional currencies.

It depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.1500/3.1571 from 3.1483/3.1563 at Friday’s close and was weaker against the Thai baht at 12.2627/12.2942 from 12.2384/12.2744 last week.

It had also slipped against the Indonesian rupiah to 226.5/227.1 from 226.2/226.8 last Friday, and fell against the Philippine peso to 6.62/6.64 from 6.61/6.63 previously.