The Malaysian ringgit extended its rally, reaching a five-year high against the US dollar, trading in a narrow range of RM4.04-RM4.05.
KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit extended its rally on Friday, opening higher to reach another five-year high against the US dollar.
At 8 am, the local currency surged to 4.0410/0495 against the greenback from 4.0425/0515 at Wednesday’s close.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said currency markets are likely to remain lacklustre in the holiday-shortened week.
He noted investors have remained constructive on the ringgit, with the US dollar-ringgit at its strongest level in five years.
“Typically, there could be some profit-taking activities, especially when the market has priced in all the positive news,” he told Bernama.
He expects the ringgit to continue trading in a narrow range of RM4.04 to RM4.05 for the day.
At the opening, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
It appreciated against the Japanese yen to 2.5874/5930 from 2.5940/5999 at Wednesday’s close.
The local note gained versus the British pound to 5.4578/4693 from 5.4647/4768.
It also strengthened vis-a-vis the euro to 4.7615/7715 from 4.7697/7804 previously.
The ringgit traded higher against most of its ASEAN peers.
It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1460/1531 from 3.1506/1578 on Wednesday.
The currency improved versus the Thai baht to 12.9990/13.0352 from 13.0486/0705 earlier.
It was up vis-a-vis the Philippine peso to 6.86/6.89 from 6.88/6.90 previously.
However, the local note was slightly easier against the Indonesian rupiah at 241.3/242.0 compared to 241.0/241.8 previously.
