Kuala lumpur: The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar today as the greenback strengthened on waning hopes of an interest rate cut this month by the United States. At 8 am, the ringgit dipped to 4.2480/2575 against the greenback, compared to Tuesday’s close of 4.2395/2440.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr. Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid noted that the US June Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Tuesday indicates an increase in the inflation rate, decreasing the likelihood of an interest rate cut at the upcoming US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting at the end of July. “The US CPI came in at 2.7 percent higher year-on-year in June from 2.4 percent in the preceding month, and similarly, the core CPI rose 2.9 percent during June after sustaining 2.8 percent increases for three consecutive months,” he told Bernama.

Mohd Afzanizam also pointed out that China’s second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) moderated to 5.2 percent from 5.4 percent in the first quarter, causing the Chinese yuan to weaken against the greenback by 0.15 percent to 7.1825 yuan. “In light of the latest US CPI and China’s GDP, the ringgit could experience some knee-jerk reaction with the US dollar-ringgit pair at around RM4.24-RM4.26 today,” he added.

At the open, the ringgit exhibited varied performance against a basket of major currencies. It improved against the Japanese yen to 2.8552/8618 from 2.8702/8734 yesterday, strengthened against the British pound to 5.6893/7021 from 5.7047/7107, and gained versus the euro to 4.9311/9421 from 4.9539/9591.

In ASEAN currency markets, the ringgit showed a mixed trend. It trended firmer vis- -vis the Singapore dollar at 3.3066/3145 from 3.3095/3133 and edged up against the Thai baht to 13.0355/0783 from 13.0784/0988. However, it slipped against the Indonesian rupiah to 261.1/261.8 from 260.6/261.0 and dropped against the Philippine peso at 7.49/7.51 from 7.47/7.49 from Tuesday’s close.