The ringgit opened slightly stronger against the US dollar this morning, bucking broader G10 currency weakness as a combination of domestic confidence and regional sentiment lifted sentiment.
At 10.20am, the ringgit was at 4.2170 against the US dollar from its close of 4.2135 at the close of Thursday’s trading.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said that while better-than-expected US data and rising Treasury yields weighed on most major currencies, the ringgit gained strength from the positive developments.
There is growing confidence that Malaysia can secure a trade deal with the US soon, potentially modelled on the 15% tariff truce the US has with Japan.
On Thursday, MITI Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said Malaysia was still on track to secure a trade deal with the US by the Aug 1 deadline at the lowest possible tariffs.
Overall, these factors will support the ringgit stronger against the US dollar amid the positive momentum session.
At the open, the ringgit was higher against a basket of major currencies.
It rose against the Japanese yen to 2.8606/2.8680 from 2.8751/2.8804 at Thursday's close, appreciated against the British pound at 5.6883/5.7025 from 5.7080/5.7182 yesterday and rose against the euro to 4.9491/4.9614 from 4.9517/4.9605.
The local currency was also mostly higher against its regional peers.
It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.2958/3.3045 from 3.2995/3.3057 on Thursday and rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 258.4/259.2 from 258.5/259.1 yesterday.
The ringgit also strengthened against the Thai baht to 13.0459/13.0857 from 13.0570/13.0863 on Thursday and was unchanged against the Philippine peso, remaining at 7.43/7.45 since yesterday.
