Buoyed by buying interest, Malaysian Ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar today as it made a rebound from seven consecutive days of losses.
The Malaysian currency rose to 4.7135/4.7180 at the opening as compared to yesterday’s close of 4.7150/4.7185.
Malaysian Riggit had moved closer to its all-time low of 4.725 recorded on Jan 7, 1998, as sentiment in the local market was influenced by the robust greenback yesterday. The greenback was strengthened against the local currency due to the US Fed repeated interest rate hikes to curb US inflation.
Given the difference in the interest rates in the two currencies, investors tend to sell the ringgit and buy the US dollar, as their capital can achieve better yields in the US at the moment, and fundamentals continue to point towards an appreciation of the US dollar versus the ringgit in the short to medium term.
The local note depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.3168/3.3204 from 3.3053/3.3080 yesterday, fell versus the British pound to 5.3503/5.3554 from 5.3199/5.3239, and weakened against the euro to 4.6381/4.6425 from 4.5981/4.6015.
However, the ringgit appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.3168/3.3204 from 3.1712/3.1738 previously.
