Kuala lumpur: The ringgit opened nearly unchanged against the US dollar on Monday, as mixed global sentiment capped gains while investors assessed political developments and major currency moves. At 8 am, the ringgit traded almost flat at 3.9430/9560 against the greenback, compared with last Friday's close of 3.9440/9525.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr. Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid highlighted that multiple global factors are shaping foreign exchange markets, with expectations for the US dollar-ringgit pair to trade between RM3.93 and RM3.95 today. He noted that emerging market currencies, including the ringgit, could remain positive amid an improvement in market uncertainty.
On the external front, Dr. Mohd Afzanizam pointed to the landslide victory by Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Sunday's election. This outcome signals that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is likely to proceed with further economic stimulus measures, potentially affecting the Japanese yen. Concurrently, easing tensions between the United States and Iran over the nuclear programme, following discussions on Friday, have contributed to lower benchmark Brent crude prices.
Political developments in the region also appear supportive of market sentiment, particularly with Thailand's general election results. The Bhumjaithai Party's comfortable margin of victory suggests continued political and economic stability in the country. Dr. Mohd Afzanizam expressed that while there is a sense of optimism in the market, the weaker yen has contributed to a firmer US Dollar Index (DXY).
At the opening, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies. It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.5075/5161 from 2.5111/5167 at last Friday's close but weakened versus the British pound to 5.3664/3841 from 5.3548/3663 and slipped against the euro to 4.6630/6784 from 4.6508/6608 previously.
The local note also showed mostly lower performance against its ASEAN peers. The ringgit remained nearly flat against the Indonesian rupiah at 233.6/234.5 from 233.6/234.3 at last Friday's close, eased vis- -vis the Singapore dollar to 3.1020/1125 from 3.0965/1034, fell against the Thai baht to 12.5386/5887 from 12.4609/4933 previously, and showed little change versus the Philippine peso at 6.73/6.75.