The ringgit was trading almost unchanged against the US dollar this morning as investors awaited the announcement of key lending rates in Malaysia and the United States.
At 10am, the ringgit was at 4.1980, down 0.07% since it opened early Wednesday in Asian trading.
Bank Negara Malaysia's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is set to announce the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) decision tomorrow, while market participants are watching the US Fed's next move on the Federal Funds Rate (FFR) in December.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the MPC is broadly expected to maintain the OPR, while the Fed is likely to continue cutting rates, a move that will further narrow the rate gap.
Malaysia's ongoing fiscal reforms are credit positive for the country. More foreign funds are likely to be attracted to Malaysian Government Securities and Government Investment Issues.
For the US dollar, the US Dollar Index (DXY) continued to move positive towards the 100-point mark as the prolonged Washington shutdown entered its 35th day.
He predicted that the US dollar-ringgit pair would likely trade in a narrow range of RM4.19 to RM4.20 today.
At the open, the ringgit was mostly traded higher against its major peers.
It rose against the British pound to 5.4612/4749 from 5.4795/4841 and strengthened against the euro to 4.8174/8294 from 4.8238/8279. The local note, however, depreciated slightly against the Japanese yen to 2.7322/7392 from 2.7331/7355 previously.
Against regional currencies, the ringgit rose to 3.2075/2158 against the Singapore dollar from 3.2131/2160 and strengthened to 12.8701/9118 against the Thai baht from 12.8859/9026. It was little changed against the Indonesian rupiah at 251.0/251.8 and stable against the Philippine peso at 7.16/7.19.
