Ringgit appreciates vs US dollar in early trade

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit has extended its positive run against the US dollar today, improving further to the 4.55 level on expectations of softer United States (US) inflation and less aggressive US Federal Reserve's rate hikes, said an analyst.

At 9 am, the local note climbed 195 percentage in points (pips) to 4.5530/5600 against the greenback from Wednesday's close of 4.5725/5775

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the steadier crude oil prices earlier this week have also provided support for the local note.

"The only thing holding the ringgit back from rallying higher is the rise in the COVID-19 cases in China," he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said it is likely that the market would remain a little more quiet than usual until next week, due to the US Thanksgiving holiday.

"Next week's most important macroeconomic event is the release of the US Non-Farm Payrolls data, which will offer more clues on the strength of the US economy," he said.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of major currencies.

The local note slid versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3074/3130 from 3.3053/3094 at Wednesday's close and shrank against the euro to 4.7419/7492 from 4.7202/7254 previously.

It had also further depreciated versus the British pound to 5.4968/5053 from 5.4495/4555 and fell vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.2715/2768 from 3.2344/2382 yesterday.

-- BERNAMA