RINGGIT OPENS LOWER AGAINST US DOLLAR

By Zarul Effendi Razali

KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 (Bernama) -- The ringgit opened easier against the US dollar today as investors continued to favour safe haven currencies in light of the current cautious economic outlook, an economist said.

At 9.05 am, the ringgit depreciated to 4.7125/7150 versus the greenback from last week’s close of 4.7110/7145.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said ringgit is expected to trade in a narrow range as the United States Federal Reserve is likely to keep its rate steady in the near term.

“The next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) (meeting) will be held at the end of next month. In the meantime, there’s going to be a lot of permutation on the direction of Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR),” he told Bernama today.

Meanwhile, the ringgit opened higher against a basket of major currencies, appreciating against the Japanese yen to 2.9497/9515 from Friday’s close of 2.9648/9671, strengthened vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9566/9598 from 5.9594/9638 and rose versus the euro to 5.0386/0413 from 5.0394/0431 previously.

It was also mostly higher against its ASEAN peers, rising versus the Thai baht to 12.8074/8191 from 12.8495/8639 last Friday and improved against the Singapore dollar to 3.4766/4787 from 3.4785/4814 previously.

However, the local note went down vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 286.4/286.7 from 286.3/286.7 at Friday’s close and depreciated against the Philippines’ peso to 8.01/8.02 from 8.00/8.02 previously.

-- BERNAMA