Kuala lumpur: The ringgit closed higher against the greenback on Wednesday, marking its third consecutive day of gains as the US dollar weakened following the onset of an American federal government shutdown.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the shutdown is expected to delay the release of critical economic data, including the US nonfarm payrolls (NFP) report, which was scheduled for release this Friday. By 6 pm, the local currency had climbed to 4.2045/2095 against the greenback, improving from Tuesday’s close of 4.2050/2090.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd’s chief economist, Dr. Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, commented that the delay in the NFP report could affect traders by depriving them of essential data needed to form market opinions. “The US government shutdown has heightened uncertainties, which is unfavorable for the US dollar,” he told Bernama.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes observed that the ringgit remained stable within a range as investors sought other safe-haven assets like the Japanese yen, gold, and US Treasuries. “The market uncertainty is intensified by the absence of US labor data releases during the shutdown. The lack of visibility on US jobs is keeping activity light, even as markets continue to anticipate US interest rate cuts later this year for medium-term support,” he added.
Despite its performance against the dollar, the ringgit mostly weakened against a basket of major currencies. It appreciated to 4.9327/9386 versus the euro from 4.9405/9452 at Tuesday’s close but slipped to 5.6605/6672 against the British pound from 5.6532/6586 and weakened to 2.8561/8597 against the Japanese yen from 2.8420/8447.
In regional trade, the ringgit also experienced declines against ASEAN currencies. It fell to 3.2623/2665 vis- -vis the Singapore dollar from 3.2604/2638 at Tuesday’s close, depreciated to 12.9929/13.0128 against the Thai baht from 12.9744/9927, and edged down against the Indonesian rupiah to 252.7/253.1 from 252.3/252.6 previously. The ringgit also eased against the Philippine peso to 7.23/7.24 from 7.22/7.24.