The ringgit opened almost unchanged against the United States (US) dollar on Monday as traders reassessed the probability of a US interest rate hike following weaker-than-expected Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data.
At 10:05am, the ringgit was at RM4.0700, down 0.07% since it opened early Monday in Asian trading.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman’s reluctance to provide an early indication on the direction of interest rates helped maintain the ringgit’s stability.
According to him, the market’s focus this week will be on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes to be released, as well as Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled for Thursday, July 9.
At the opening of trade, the ringgit was mostly traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
The ringgit weakened against the euro to 4.6543/6640 from 4.6497/6612 at Friday's close. It also weakened against the British pound to 5.4336/4449 from 5.4296/4430 last week.
However, the ringgit strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.5203/5257 from 2.5214/5277 previously.
Among regional currencies, the ringgit was also traded lower.
The ringgit weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.1500/1571 from 3.1483/1563 at Friday's close.
It also weakened against the Thai baht to 12.2627/2942 from 12.2384/2744 last week.
In addition, the ringgit weakened against the Indonesian rupiah to 226.5/227.1 from 226.2/226.8 last Friday, and depreciated against the Philippine peso to 6.62/6.63 from 6.61/6.63 previously.
