THE ringgit opened flat against the US dollar but rose against other major currencies, with investors still weighing the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and Washington’s reciprocal tariff measures, which take effect today.
At 8 am, the local note stood at 4.2650/2850 against the US dollar, almost unchanged from Thursday’s close of 4.2650/2730.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid told Bernama that the newly announced tariff will likely support the ringgit and lift investor sentiment.
Earlier, the United States announced a reduced tariff of 19 per cent on Malaysian imports, effective Aug 1, 2025.
On July 7, US President Donald Trump said Washington would impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Malaysian products entering the country, separate from existing sectoral tariffs. The new rate, effective today, is one percentage point higher than the 24 per cent announced in April.
Mohd Afzanizam noted that the US Dollar Index (DXY) continued to rise, gaining 0.15 per cent to reach 99.968 points, supported by the tariff decision and a stronger-than-expected Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, which climbed to 2.6 per cent in June.
He said the data suggested inflationary risks remained and could prompt the Federal Reserve (Fed) to keep the Fed Funds Rate unchanged at its September meeting.
“Against such a backdrop, the ringgit is expected to stay soft, possibly around RM4.26. Yesterday, the ringgit weakened by 0.61 per cent to close at RM4.2690.
“It appears that, following the FOMC meeting, the US dollar gained traction as the Fed remains committed to its restrictive policy stance to contain inflation risks,” he added.
At the opening, the ringgit was higher against other major currencies.
It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.8277/8411 from 2.8443/8498 on Thursday, rose against the British pound to 5.6328/6592 from 5.6426/6532, and gained against the euro to 4.8711/8939 from 4.8766/8857.
The ringgit was mixed against regional peers.
It was little changed against the Philippine peso at 7.31/7.35 from 7.31/7.33 and flat against the Indonesian rupiah at 259.1/260.5 from 259.1/259.7.
The local note rose against the Thai baht to 13.0169/0876 from 13.0448/0753 and strengthened versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2856/3012 from 3.2889/2953. -- August 1, 2025
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