Ringgit rises against major currencies, slips vs US dollar

The Malaysian ringgit demonstrated a mixed performance against major currencies on Friday morning, strengthening against most, but weakening against the US dollar. At 8:00 AM, the local currency slipped to 4.0780/4.0840 against the US dollar, down from 4.0765/4.0805 at the previous close. Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid attributed the greenback's rise to 103.198 points to expectations of a potential Fed rate increase at its December meeting.

He also noted that oil prices had risen by 3.27% to US$95.79 per barrel, indicating that inflationary pressures might persist. Despite these factors, traders largely disregarded the rise in initial jobless claims to 200,000 last week and a 5.5% month-on-month decline in US home sales. Analysts forecast the ringgit to trade between RM4.07 and RM4.08 against the US dollar today.

The currency showed improvement against the euro, British pound, and Japanese yen, but remained mostly unchanged against Asean counterparts and flat against the Philippine peso.