Bessent vows bigger buybacks after bond yields erased the US Treasury's relief rally

On a robust note against the US dollar, the Malaysian ringgit concluded the week amidst increased US Treasury yields. The local currency's strength was underpinned by rising Malaysian yields and mounting apprehension about potential US bond-market intervention negatively affecting the greenback. Stephen Innes, a Quintex Intel global strategist, cautioned that attempts to curb long-term US yields might evolve into yield-curve management or financial repression, both of which have previously undermined the dollar.

"The concern is that measures aimed at suppressing long-term US yields could eventually resemble a form of yield-curve management or financial repression which has historically weighed on the greenback," he said to Bernama.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist, Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, advocated for the US government to prioritize revenue generation and expenditure control to curb the swelling US government debt, which surpassed US$40 trillion for the first time. According to him, a buyback program would merely buy time, as markets would eventually return their focus to the US fiscal position to assess their evaluation.

By the eve of trading, the ringgit gained to 4.0365/4.0405 against the US dollar, up from its previous close of 4.0425/4.0470. Throughout the day, the ringgit showed an upward trend against other major currencies, rising against the Japanese yen, British pound, and euro. However, it experienced a mixed performance against some regional currencies, strengthening against the Singapore dollar, Philippine peso, but weakening against the Indonesian rupiah and Thai baht.