Ringgit on non-stop rally for 11 straight days vs US dollar

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit continued to be well supported and sustained its upward momentum for 11 straight days against the US dollar as investors redirect their investments towards the Asia-Pacific region following weaker US jobs data last Friday, said an analyst.

At 8 am today, the ringgit appreciated to 4.4930/5010 versus the US dollar from last Friday's close of 4.4945/4995.

It was reported that the US unemployment rate jumped to a near three-year high of 4.3 per cent in July compared to 4.1 per cent in June.

UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said that in the wake of the weak US jobs data, US bond yields dropped significantly as investors sought safety in fixed income.

Consequently, the two-year treasury yields experienced a notable decline, from 4.39 per cent to the current 3.91 per cent, marking the lowest level since March 2023 and resulting in the dollar index (DXY) dropping more than one per cent in a single day.

"Additionally, the dovish tone from both the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve last week was likely to sustain the increased demand for the ringgit," he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid believes the ringgit versus US dollar is on track to move towards its current support level of RM4.40.

As such, he anticipated the ringgit against greenback to range between RM4.47 and RM4.48 today.

"The US bond markets are in bullish mode, indicating that the players are expecting a steeper drop in Fed Fund Rate," he said.

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

It fell against the British pound to 5.7447/7550 from 5.7264/7328 at Friday's close, dropped vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9019/9106 from 4.8635/8689 previously, and decreased versus the Japanese yen to 3.0848/0913 from 3.0177/0214 last week.

Against the ASEAN currencies, the local note was almost flat versus the Indonesian rupiah to 277.3/277.9 from 277.4/277.8 and was flat vis-a-vis the Philippine peso at 7.73/7.57.

It slid against the Singapore dollar to 3.3889/3952 from 3.3750/3793 and dropped versus the Thai baht to 12.7158/7503 from 12.7093/7284 previously.

-- BERNAMA