KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar for the sixth consecutive day today as traders remained cautious ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s decision on the overnight policy rate, a dealer said.
At 9am, the local currency fell to 4.7410/7460 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.7360/7400.
ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the investors are now awaiting the decision on the Malaysian interest rate to be announced later today. The rate is expected to rise from 2.5% to 2.75%.
Besides that, the ringgit’s movement was also influenced by the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) announcement of another interest rate increase and signalled for more smaller increases ahead.
The Fed has raised the benchmark borrowing rate by 0.75 percentage points, from 3.25% to 4.0% yesterday.
At a press conference yesterday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell hinted at the stance the US central bank would adopt in the future.
“Powell said he still does not see elements that would warrant a pause in the interest rate increase but that more concrete decisions will be taken at the next meeting in December,” Diniz said.
Back home, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
The local note appreciated against the euro to 4.6566/6615 from 4.6910/6950 at yesterday’s close and improved vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.3456/3496 from 3.3551/3584 yesterday.
It went up versus the British pound to 5.4019/4076 from 5.4445/4491 and increased against the Japanese yen to 3.2169/2205 from 3.2185/2214 previously.
Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia opened lower with most indices in the negative zone due to weaker buying sentiment as Wall Street tumbled after the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) hiked rates by 75 basis points and hinted of more smaller increases to follow as it continues to fight inflation.
At 9.06am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI fell 4.96 points to 1,446.65 from yesterday’s close of 1,451.61.
The market bellwether opened 3.29 points lower at 1,448.32.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 209 to 77, while 215 counters were unchanged, 1,824 untraded, and nine others suspended.
Turnover stood at 177.37 million units worth RM47.95 million. – Bernama, November 3, 2022
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