KUALA LUMPUR, 10 OCT – The Malaysian ringgit (RM) opened lower against the United States (US) dollar today, following the minutes of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting showing that Fed officials differed on whether to cut interest rates by 0.5 points in September, implying smaller declines in the future, an analyst said.
At 8am, the Malaysian currency slipped to 4.2875/3005 against the US dollar, from 4.2800/2830 at yesterday’s close.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd’s Chief Economist, Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the minutes of the Fed meeting revealed last night showed that its members preferred a gradual approach to easing monetary policy as the US economy held up well despite having to face tight monetary policy.
Mohd Afzanizam also expects the RM to weaken due to better demand for the US dollar. However, the RM is trading high against major currencies. Meanwhile, local currencies are traded mixed compared to the currencies of ASEAN countries.
The RM rose against the Thai baht to 12.7886/8354 from 12.8010/8157 yesterday and rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.2797/2901 from 3.2822/2848, however it eased against the Philippine peso to 7.52/7.55 from 7.50/7.52 at yesterday’s close, depreciating against the Indonesian rupiah to 274.2/275.2 from 273.8/274.1 at yesterday’s close. – Named
