Kuala lumpur: The ringgit ended higher against the US dollar on Monday, driven primarily by the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell’s dovish Jackson Hole speech, which signaled a possible interest rate cut in September. At 6 pm, the local note rose to 4.2045/2105 versus the greenback from last Friday’s close of 4.2245/2295.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr. Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid indicated that Powell’s speech was the catalyst as the Fed prepared the market for the potential rate cut in September. He noted that while the inflation rate remains above the two percent target, the Fed appears willing to tolerate it due to shifting risks towards slower economic growth. He emphasized the importance of the Fed demonstrating its readiness to stay ahead of the economic curve to maintain market confidence, which has resulted in a near-term negative outlook for the dollar.

At the close, the ringgit settled lower against a basket of major currencies. It edged down versus the euro to 4.9163/9233 from 4.8996/9054 at last Friday’s close, fell vis- -vis the Japanese yen to 2.8534/8577 from 2.8408/8443 previously, and weakened against the British pound to 5.6740/6821 from 5.6659/6726.

Meanwhile, the local note traded mixed against other ASEAN currencies. It inched up versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2761/2810 from 3.2763/2805 at the end of last week and strengthened against the Philippine peso to 7.41/7.43 from 7.42/7.43 previously. However, the ringgit went down against the Thai baht to 12.9561/9801 from 12.9387/9592 last Friday and slid vis- -vis the Indonesian rupiah to 258.5/259.1 from 258.3/258.7.