KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit traded slightly higher against the US dollar at the opening as traders anticipated that the local currency would trade sideways while focusing on next year’s fiscal deficit targets, even as global banks continued to pursue easy monetary policies.
At 8 am, the ringgit edged up to 4.3050/3250 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.3075/3105.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said Budget 2025, to be tabled in Parliament later today is high on the agenda, with traders probably zooming in on next year’s fiscal deficit targets.
“They will also look into government measures to be announced to maintain the pace of fiscal consolidation while at the same time, continuing to support the Malaysian economy,” he told Bernama.
He also said the European Central Bank is expected to lower its policy rates by 25 basis points due to inflation falling below the two per cent target and weak business sentiment in the manufacturing sector.
Globally, the US Dollar Index continued to be well supported with the European Central Bank cutting their policy rates by 25 basis points yesterday, he said.
“This happened at a time when the US Federal Reserve seems not too keen to prescribe aggressive monetary easing on the back of US economy resilience,” he said.
At the opening, the ringgit was mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It edged up against the euro to 4.6615/6831 from 4.6771/6803 at Thursday’s close and appreciated vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 2.8673/8808 from Thursday’s close of 2.8790/8812.
But the ringgit slipped against the British pound to 5.6025/6286 from 5.5967/6006.
The ringgit also traded mostly lower versus ASEAN currencies.
It strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.2758/2912 from 3.2782/2807 and inched up against the Thai baht to 12.9614/13.0326 from 12.9619/9776. It also opened marginally higher against the Indonesian rupiah at 277.5/279.0 from 277.7/278.
The local note was almost flat versus the Philippine peso at 7.44/7.48 from 7.44/7.46
