KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened slightly lower against the US dollar on Friday due to a cautious US economic outlook, prompting more investors to seek safe haven currencies, according to an economist.
At 9:17am, the RM was trading easier against the US dollar at 4.7200/4.7250, as compared to Thursday’s close of 4.7160/4.7190.
According to Afzanizam Rashid, the chief economist at Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd, the US dollar index (DXY) declined 0.14 per cent to 105.906.
Similarly, the yields on 2-year and 10-year US Treasury fell by 4.0 basis points to 4.71% and 4.29%, respectively, as the preferred inflation indicator is expected to decrease in May.
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“Consensus estimates pegged the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index to come in at 2.6% in May from 2.8% in the prior month,” he noted.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic suggested the US Federal Reserve might be inclined to cut interest rates if inflation continues to fall, he said.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was quite positive against a basket of major currencies in early trade.
It appreciated against the Japanese yen from 2.9383/2.9404 to 2.9311/2.9344 and against the British pound from 5.9643/5.9681 to 5.9604/5.9667.
It fell against the euro from 5.0452/5.0484 to 5.0471/5.0524.
The ringgit was mostly in the red compared to its ASEAN counterparts.
The local currency rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.4721/3.4761 from 3.4761/3.4788, but fell against the Indonesian rupiah to 287.7/288.0 from 287.4/287.7.
Against the Philippine peso, the ringgit went from 8.03/8.04 to 8.04/8.05. The ringgit fell against the Thai baht to 12.7927/8115 from 12.7874/8015.
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