KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 ― The ringgit weakened against the US dollar at the opening today over markets expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) may raise interest rate, which would lend some support to the dollar, said an analyst.
At 9.01am, the local currency was trading at 4.1925/1960 against the US dollar compared with 4.1815/1835 at Monday’s close.
Bank Islam Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the sharp rise of the 10-year US Treasury note yield to 1.88 per cent has reinvigorated the view that the Fed is expected to raise its benchmark interest rate in March.
“This will certainly provides a boost to the US dollar and admittedly a weaker ringgit,” he told Bernama.
He said Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee's first meeting of the year perhaps would shed some light on BNM’s assessment of the economy and what it could mean in respect to overnight policy rate (OPR).
“For now, expect the local note linger on a weaker bias,” he added.
The ringgit opened slightly lower versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1038/1080 from Monday’s close of 3.1020/1039 and depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.6541/6579 from 3.6523/6544.
However, it strengthened against the British pound to 5.7005/7053 from 5.7207/7234 and increased vis-a-vis the euro to 4.7493/7532 from 4.7774/7796 previously. ― Bernama
