KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit further strengthened against the US dollar at the close on Thursday following a decline in the US Dollar Index (DXY), and despite the United States (US) Federal Reserve likely to perform only a one-time rate cut this year instead of three, said an analyst.
At 6 pm, the ringgit rose to 4.7070/7110 versus the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.7160/7185.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US DXY was below 105 points throughout the day.
“The odds for a rate cut is building up for September and December based on the interest rate futures contract, indicating that the market believes that rate cut will happen twice this year,” he told Bernama.
At the close, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local unit strengthened versus the Japanese yen to 2.9945/9972 from Wednesday’s close of 2.9977/9995 but slid against the euro to 5.0840/0884 from 5.0711/0738 yesterday, and depreciated vis-a-vis the British pound to 6.0160/0211 from 6.0157/0189 previously.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly higher against its ASEAN peers.
The local note appreciated vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 289.2/289.6 from 289.3/289.7 at Wednesday’s close, went up versus the Thai baht to 12.8386/8540 from 12.8529/8643 and was higher against the Philippine peso at 8.03/8.04 from 8.04/8.05 previously.
However, it eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.4887/4920 from 3.4879/4900 yesterday. – Bernama