he Malaysian currency continues to experience challenging times, as once again, the value dipped compared to the United States (US) dollar due to a lack of catalysts on Wednesday.
The ringgit eased to 4.7075/7710 at 9.36am against the US dollar from its 4.6925/6965 previous day close.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd’s Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, on the Ringgit’s position, said the tendency to be reluctant to take risks will continue to exist.
It indirectly resulted in higher demand for the US dollar amid doubts about further interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) as well as tensions in West Asia. The tensions, especially in the Red Sea area, could disrupt global trade, which drives up demand for the US dollar.
“At this point, the US dollar/ringgit will continue to hover around the RM4.70 level. The current support and resistance levels are at RM4.6611 and RM4.7958 respectively,” he said.
Meanwhile, the data in focus this week is China’s economic growth for the fourth quarter of 2023 alongside US retail sales for December.
The ringgit is also trading low mostly against several major currencies.
“The domestic unit eased against the euro to 5.1189/1227 from 5.1073/1117 at Tuesday’s close, and was less stable against the British pound to 5.9489/9533 from 5.9299/9350. However, the ringgit increased against the Japanese yen to 3.1948/1974 from 3.2013/2043 yesterday.”
The value of the ringgit is deemed low when compared to the currency of other ASEAN countries, namely the Thai baht to 13.2710/2858 from 13.2579/2748 on Tuesday and against the Singapore dollar to 3.5063/5091 from 3.5003/5038.
The Ringgit also fell against the Indonesian rupiah to 301.9/302.2 from 300.9/301.3 but gained against the Philippine peso at 8.40/8.41 from 8.40/8.42.
