The ringgit closed strong against the US dollar

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit closed firmly against the United States (US) dollar today as the market awaits the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) decision tonight, analysts said.

At 6pm, the ringgit rose to 4.7160/7185 against the US dollar from 4.7175/7205 at yesterday’s close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd’s Chief Economist, Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, said the US Dollar Index (DXY) continued to hover above 105 points as the US Federal Reserve (Fed) maintained a tight stance following strong data for the US Non-Farm Payroll last Friday.

“However, no decision has been made on that and the latest macroeconomic projections will be an important factor determining sentiment on the expected rate cut.

“Currently, September is expected to be the month for the Fed to begin monetary easing based on consensus estimates,” he told Bernama.

At the close of trading, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

The local unit strengthened against the yen to 2.9977/9995 from 3.0000/0021 at Tuesday’s close, but eased against the euro to 5.0711/0738 from 5.0708/0741 yesterday, and eased against the pound to 6.0157/0189 from 6.0073/0111 previously.

Against ASEAN regional currencies, the local currency rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 289.3/289.7 from 289.5/289.9 at Tuesday’s close.

However, the ringgit eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.4879/4900 from 3.4862/4887 yesterday, eased against the Thai baht to 12.8529/8643 from 12.8364/8491 and was lower against the Philippine peso to 8.05/8.4 from 8.05/8.4 previously.