Ringgit opens higher vs greenback amidst Fed's interest rate decision

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar on Friday after the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) decided to maintain its interest rate at 5.5 per cent.

At 9:05 am, the ringgit appreciated to 4.7280/7325 against the US dollar compared to Wednesday's closing rate of 4.7305/7355.

The market was closed yesterday for the Federal Territory holiday.

ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said that looking at it from a technical perspective, the USD/MYR pair reached a significant resistance level on the daily chart, specifically at 4.7300.

"The Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicator recently exceeded the 70 mark, indicating that buyers may be becoming fatigued after the bullish trend observed over the past few days.

"If the price manages to break below 4.7200, there is a possibility the US dollar could drop to around 4.6500 within a few days," he said.

He added that investors are also likely to closely monitor the release of US Non-Farm Payroll data, as employment data plays a significant role in shaping the Fed's monetary policy decisions.

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

It was easier vis-a-vis the Japanese yen at 3.2319/2350 from 3.2021/2057 at Wednesday's close, depreciated against the British pound to 6.0268/0325 from 5.9935/9999 earlier, and declined against the euro to 5.1408/1456 from 5.1198/1252 previously.

Similarly, the local note traded lower versus Asean currencies.

The local unit slid against the Singapore dollar to 3.5371/5407 versus 3.5302/5342 at Wednesday's close and depreciated against the Thai baht to 13.3726/3913 from 13.3321/3511 previously.

It was lower against the Indonesian rupiah at 299.8/300.3 compared to 299.6/300.2 on Wednesday and declined versus the Philippines' peso to 8.44/8.46 from 8.40/8.41 previously.

-- BERNAMA

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