KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit started Friday weaker against the US dollar, as investors stayed cautious ahead of Malaysia’s second-quarter 2025 gross domestic product (GDP) release later today, amid a firmer greenback.
At 8am, the local currency slipped to 4.2100/2210 from Thursday’s close of 4.2090/2145.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar strengthened overnight as producer-level inflation accelerated.
“Initial jobless claims also fell last week, signalling a still-resilient labour market,” he told Bernama.
In July, the US Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 3.3% year-on-year, beating the 2.5% forecast, while core PPI climbed to 3.7% versus an expected 2.9%. Initial jobless claims came in at 224,000, just below the 225,000 consensus.
Following the data, the US Dollar Index (DXY) gained 0.42% to 98.254 points, as traders trimmed expectations of an interest rate cut at the upcoming US Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
On the local market outlook, Mohd Afzanizam expects the ringgit to trade between 4.21 and 4.23 against the US dollar today, noting that profit-taking amid uncertainty over the Fed’s policy path may persist.
“The USD-MYR was volatile yesterday, touching RM4.1858 in the morning before weakening to RM4.2118 later. The RM4.20 level remains a key psychological threshold,” he added.
At the opening, the ringgit was higher against most major currencies. It rose to 4.9047/9175 versus the euro (from 4.9170/9234), strengthened to 2.8502/8578 against the Japanese yen (from 2.8703/8742), and improved to 5.6953/7102 versus the British pound (from 5.7146/7220).
The local note was mixed against regional currencies, firming to 3.2775/2866 against the Singapore dollar (from 3.2849/2895) and to 12.9646/13.0069 against the Thai baht (from 13.0004/0238). It, however, eased slightly to 261.2/262.0 against the Indonesian rupiah (from 261.1/261.6) and was nearly unchanged at 7.39/7.42 versus the Philippine peso (from 7.39/7.41).
Source: Bernama
