Ringgit holds steady against US dollar at opening

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 — The Malaysian ringgit maintained its stability against the US dollar at the opening of Thursday's trading session, as traders awaited the release of US consumer price index (CPI) data on Friday. At 8am, the local currency remained unchanged at 4.0670/0720 against the greenback, showing no significant movement from Wednesday's close.

Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, the chief economist at Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd, noted that the upcoming US CPI data would impact expectations for the US Federal Reserve's interest rate path, potentially affecting market sentiment. Rashid stated, "There doesn't appear to be strong reasons for the ringgit to strengthen at the moment, particularly as traders will be closely monitoring the US CPI release expected on Friday."

He further explained that the current risk-off environment, coupled with higher crude oil prices, was causing traders to seek refuge, leading to the expectation that the US dollar-ringgit pair would fluctuate within a range of RM4.05 to RM4.07 throughout the day. Rashid also highlighted that Brent crude oil prices were trading around US$101.21 (RM411.83) per barrel, with rising tensions between the United States and Iran potentially exacerbating market volatility.

Throughout the day, the ringgit showed mixed performance against various currencies. It weakened against the Japanese yen, euro, and British pound, while it slightly improved against the Thai baht and remained stable against the Philippine peso and Indonesian rupiah. However, the local currency experienced a slight dip against the Singapore dollar, trading at 3.2165/2210 compared to the previous close of 3.2150/2192.