KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit opened almost unchanged against the US dollar this morning, as mixed sentiment brought about by Covid-19 vaccines, coupled with a weaker greenback, kept investors on a wait-and-see attitude for bigger market catalysts, dealers said.
At 9.00am, the local currency stood at 4.0400/0430 against the US dollar from yesterday’s close of 4.0400/0450.
Axi chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said global yields and curves resumed higher on promising outlook following the vaccine.
He said rates traders continue to reprice the Federal Reserve curve and higher US yields are perhaps intimidating Asian central banks into a policy corner.
Closer to home, he believes the ringgit is currently in a tug of war between narrowing yield differentials with US bonds and surging oil prices.
“While Malaysia is losing some of its Malaysian government securities appeals, the ringgit stands a great chance to benefit from export and commodity recovery as the world continues to reopen for business,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded lower against other major currencies.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0588/0622 from 3.0523/0572 yesterday and depreciated versus the Japanese yen to 3.8476/8512 from 3.8229/8290 yesterday.
The local currency weakened vis-à-vis the euro to 4.9151/9203 from yesterday’s 4.8912/8981 and contracted against the pound to 5.6847/6893 from 5.6613/6691 as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson charts a path out of lockdowns on the back of rapid vaccinations. – Bernama, February 23, 2021
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