KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit closed barely decrease at present in opposition to the buck after Asian international alternate (FX) markets displayed a mixed performance in opposition to the US greenback.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes stated the ringgit’s battle might be attributed to a number of elements, together with market expectations relating to US rate of interest cuts.
He stated the markets are anticipating one or two rate of interest cuts by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) this yr, which is extra hawkish in comparison with the Fed’s median projection of three cuts.
This outlook, he famous, was totally different from the start of the yr when six cuts have been anticipated.
“The US 10-year Treasury yield stays elevated at 4.63%, including additional stress on Asian currencies,” he advised eNM.
On a barely optimistic observe, for Asian FX, Innes stated considerations about potential FX intervention by Japanese authorities continued to floor, particularly because the US dollar-Japanese yen alternate fee approached the 155-yen stage.
He famous that Japan’s finance minister has expressed severe considerations concerning the weak point of the Japanese yen, indicating a rising chance of intervention to stabilise the forex.
At 6pm, the ringgit eased to 4.7785/4.7820 in opposition to the buck from yesterday’s closing of 4.7750/4.7785.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded decrease in opposition to a basket of main currencies.
The native unit slid marginally vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to three.0863/3.0887 from 3.0852/3.0877 at yesterday’s shut, depreciated versus the British pound to five.9067/5.9110 from 5.8938/5.8981 and eased in opposition to the euro to five.0944/5.0981 from 5.0859/5.0896 beforehand.
It additionally traded simpler in opposition to Asean currencies apart from the Thai baht, bettering to 12.8887/12.9037 in opposition to 12.9044/12.9198 from yesterday’s shut.
The ringgit barely fell in opposition to the Singapore greenback to three.5066/3.5095 from 3.5041/3.5069 yesterday, was decrease versus the Philippine peso at 8.31/8.3 from 8.29/8.31, and fell vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 294.5/294.9 from 293.9/294.4 beforehand.
