Kuala Lumpur: The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar on Wednesday, as the market resumed its observation on further trade negotiations between the United States (US) and China in London, an analyst said. At 8 am, the local note rose to 4.2290/2380 versus the greenback from Tuesday’s close of 4.2360/2420.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid noted that the US dollar index (DXY) fluctuated between 98.962 and 99.358 last night as traders and investors continued to monitor the US-China trade talks. US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick described the discussion as progressing well, suggesting that the two nations could potentially reach a compromise in their negotiations.
Meanwhile, Mohd Afzanizam highlighted the ongoing debate over US President Donald Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ among the US Senate, with some Republicans advocating for the phasing out of the clean-energy tax credit to protect investors and jobs from major disruptions. The US fiscal position is under scrutiny as fiscal deficits and government debt are expected to rise.
While market sentiments have shown positive signs, Mohd Afzanizam cautioned that it is still early in the day. He projected that the ringgit-dollar exchange rate would remain range-bound between 4.23 and 4.24 today.
At the opening, the ringgit demonstrated strength against a basket of major currencies. It rose against the Japanese yen to 2.9200/9264 from Tuesday’s close of 2.9270/9314, and strengthened against the British pound to 5.7121/7243 from 5.7152/7233, though it was slightly lower vis-a-vis the euro at 4.8367/8470 compared to 4.8354/8422 yesterday.
The local currency also traded higher against its ASEAN counterparts. It gained versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2885/2957 from 3.2932/2981 at Tuesday’s close and improved against the Thai baht to 12.9664/13.0040 from 12.9712/9955. The ringgit was slightly higher against the Philippine peso at 7.57/7.59 from 7.58/7.60 previously and inched up against the Indonesian rupiah to 259.8/260.5 from 260.2/260.7.