Ringgit opens higher against US dollar on upbeat GDP data
The local currency strengthens to 4.0830/4.0890, tracking stronger-than-expected Q2 growth of 6.0%.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian ringgit opened higher against the US dollar on Monday, following the country's stronger-than-expected second quarter 2026 (Q2 2026) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 6.0%. At 8am, the local currency reached 4.0830/4.0890 against the greenback, up from Friday's close of 4.0840/4.0885. Afzanizam Rashid, chief economist of Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd, commented on the positive economic outlook, stating that the Malaysian economy has remained resilient and continues to surprise on the upside, as reflected in the latest Q2 2026 GDP data.
According to him, the ringgit is expected to remain within the RM4.07 to RM4.09 range for the day. Geopolitical risk, as well as its impact on crude oil prices, continues to exert upward pressure on the ringgit against the US dollar. Traders and investors are uncertain about how this will play out and influence inflation, which depends on the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) decision on monetary policy at the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Sept 15 and 16, 2026.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian ringgit showed mixed performance against a basket of major currencies. It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.5645/2.5685, against the euro to 4.7257/4.7326, and against the British pound to 5.5312/5.5394. However, it weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.1923/3.1975 and against the Thai baht to 12.3190/12.3442.
The local currency remained steady vis-à-vis the Philippine peso at 6.64/6.66 and unchanged versus the Indonesian rupiah, at 229.0/229.4.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
Also reported by 2 other outlets
- Ringgit opens higher against US dollar on upbeat GDP data freemalaysiatoday.com
- Ringgit opens higher versus greenback on upbeat GDP data nst.com.my
