KUALA LUMPUR: An analyst said that the ringgit was little changed against the US dollar this morning as investors await US non-farm payrolls (NFP) data released later in the day.
The ringgit rose to 4.6930/6980 against the US dollar at 9am, after closing at 4.6935/6965 on Thursday.
Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, chief economist at Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd, said the US NFP data could reach 186,000 in May from 175,000 previously, while the unemployment rate is expected to remain at 3.9 per cent.
“The ringgit is likely to remain in a narrow range today. Should the NFP came in lower than expected, it might lead to weaker dollar. Otherwise, the greenback is expected to remain fairly strong as the Federal Reserve (Fed) is seen not to be in a hurry to ease its monetary policy,” he told Bernama.
He also pointed that global interest rates seem to have reached a point where the European Central Bank (ECB) is joining the call for rate cuts in line with the Bank of Canada’s rate cut decision this week.
The ringgit traded lower against a many other major currencies.
The local unit fell against the Japanese yen from 3.0094/0113 to 3.0132/0166, against the British pound it depreciated from 5.9997/6.0035 to 6.0014/0078 and weakened against the euro at 5.1107/1161 to 5.1065/1098 during Thursday’s close.
Meanwhile, the ringgit showed a mixed performance against its ASEAN counterparts.
It fell against the Thai baht to 12.8921/9101 from 12.8660/8798 at Thursday’s close and fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.4874/4914 from 3.4842/4866.
Meanwhile, the local currency remained almost unchanged against the Philippine peso and Indonesian rupiah at 8.01/8.03 from 8.01/8.02 and 288.5/288.9 from 288.6/288.8, respectively.