Ringgit flat vs US dollar, stronger against other currencies at opening

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit was traded almost flat at the opening against the US dollar today on lack of fresh buying interest amid low volatility due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States (US).

At 9.05 am, the ringgit was at 4.6785/6855 versus the greenback compared with Thursday's close of 4.6775/6830.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit is expected to remain stable versus the US dollar at around RM4.68 in the absence of leads from the US following the Thanksgiving holiday.

He said the focus today would be on Malaysia's consumer price index (CPI), which is expected to come in at 1.9 per cent in October based on consensus.

"If it were to materialise, this would be an unchanged level, suggesting that the inflation rate has stabilised.

"On that score, the overnight policy rate (OPR) is likely to remain steady in the near term as real interest rate has become positive, suggesting the monetary policy is not too accommodative," he told Bernama.

In the early trade, the ringgit was firmer versus a basket of major currencies.

It strengthened against the Euro at 5.1038/1114 from 5.1092/1152 on Thursday, appreciated versus the Japanese yen to 3.1294/1343 from 3.1342/1381 and rose vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.8678/8766 from 5.8740/8809.

The local note traded mixed against other Asean currencies.

It improved versus the Singapore dollar to 3.4917/4972 from 3.4922/4969 and was higher versus the Thai baht at 13.2475/2726 from 13.2601/2813 yesterday.

However, the local note went down against the Philippine peso at 8.45/8.47 from 8.44/8.46 previously and was flat vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah at 300.7/301.4 from 300.6/301.2.

-- BERNAMA