KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened marginally higher against the US dollar in cautious mode ahead of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting later this week, an economist said.
At 9 am, the local note rose to 4.6800/6845 against the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.6815/6845.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit is expected to stay soft versus the greenback this week as markets await the outcome of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on September 19-20 that will decide on interest rates. He said consensus estimates pointed to the Fed funds rate staying put at 5.50 per cent for this meeting.
“But more importantly, the market will digest the FOMC members’ assessment and the Fed’s macroeconomic projections.
“It appears that the Fed really stands out in respect to the monetary tightening relative to their counterparts in major economies,” he told Bernama, adding that the local note is expected to remain between RM4.66 and RM4.68 per US dollar.
The ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies in the early session.
It depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.1675/1710 from 3.1670/1693 at the close on Friday and edged down against the euro at 4.9940/9988 from 4.9919/9951, but rose versus the British pound to 5.8032/8088 from 5.8196/8233 previously.
At the same time, the local note traded mostly higher against other Asean currencies.
It appreciated vis-à-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.4341/4377 from 3.4350/4374 at Friday’s close and slightly rose against the Philippine peso at 8.23/8.25 from 8.24/8.25 previously.
It was up against the Indonesian rupiah at 304.7/305.2 from 304.8/305.2 last week but depreciated against the Thai baht to 13.0964/1145 from 13.0681/0812 previously.
Short-term rates remain stable
Short-term rates are expected to remain stable today on Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) operations to absorb surplus liquidity from the financial system.
Liquidity is estimated at RM29.70 billion in the conventional system and RM20.88 billion in Islamic funds.
Today, the central bank will conduct a RM500 million conventional money market tender for seven days, and a RM500 million Qard tender for seven days.
It will also call for two reverse repo tenders, namely a RM1.5 billion tender for 30 days and a RM500 million tender for 91 days.
BNM also announced the availability of reverse repo, sale, and buy-back agreements as well as Collateralised Commodity Murabahah facilities for tenors of one to three months.
At 4 pm, it will conduct up to RM31.2 billion conventional overnight tender and RM20.4 billion for Murabahah overnight tender.
Foreign exchange rates
Following are the opening Malaysian foreign exchange for major currencies today:
1 USD 4.6800/6845
100 yen 3.1675/1710
1 pound 5.8032/8088
1 euro 4.9940/9988
1 SGD 3.4341/4377
100 baht 13.0964/1145
1 mln rupiah 304.7/305.2
100 pesos 8.23/8.25
Exchange rates issued by Malayan Banking Bhd today
| SELLING TT/OD | BUYING TT | BUYING OD | |
| 1 US Dollar | 4.7480 | 4.6150 | 4.6050 |
| 1 Australian Dollar | 3.0870 | 2.9660 | 2.9500 |
| 1 Brunei Dollar | 3.4860 | 3.3870 | 3.3790 |
| 1 Canadian Dollar | 3.5140 | 3.4220 | 3.4100 |
| 1 Euro | 5.0650 | 4.9030 | 4.8830 |
| 1 New Zealand Dollar | 2.8270 | 2.7240 | 2.7080 |
| 1 Papua N Guinea Kina | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1 Singapore Dollar | 3.4860 | 3.3870 | 3.3790 |
| 1 Sterling Pound | 5.9080 | 5.7240 | 5.7040 |
| 1 Swiss Franc | 5.2890 | 5.1680 | 5.1530 |
| 100 UAE Dirham | 130.8700 | 124.1400 | 123.9400 |
| 100 Bangladesh Taka | 4.4110 | 4.1240 | 3.9240 |
| 100 Chinese Renminbi | 65.3000 | 62.8000 | N/A |
| 100 Danish Krone | 69.6300 | 64.1100 | 63.9100 |
| 100 Hongkong Dollar | 61.3500 | 58.3200 | 58.1200 |
| 100 Indian Rupee | 5.8200 | 5.4600 | 5.2600 |
| 100 Indonesian Rupiah | 0.0320 | 0.0290 | 0.0240 |
| 100 Japanese Yen | 3.2170 | 3.1160 | 3.1060 |
| 100 New Taiwan Dollar | 15.9000 | N/A | N/A |
| 100 Norwegian Krone | 45.4900 | 41.8400 | 41.6400 |
| 100 Pakistan Rupee | 1.6200 | 1.5200 | 1.3200 |
| 100 Philippine Peso | 8.4800 | 8.0000 | 7.8000 |
| 100 Qatar Riyal | 131.7800 | 125.1000 | 124.9000 |
| 100 Saudi Riyal | 128.1000 | 121.6100 | 121.4100 |
| 100 South Africa Rand | 25.8900 | 23.3900 | 23.1900 |
| 100 Sri Lanka Rupee | 1.5100 | 1.3800 | 1.1800 |
| 100 Swedish Krona | 43.8700 | 39.9700 | 39.7700 |
| 100 Thai Baht | 13.8700 | 12.3100 | 11.9100 |
Gold up
The physical price of gold as at 9.30 am stood at RM281.21 per gramme, up RM1.81 from RM279.40 at 5 pm last Friday. – BERNAMA
