Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said despite the weaker ringgit at mid-day, with the US dollar/ringgit going up to as high as RM4.6475, it recovered during the afternoon session.
He explained that the anticipation of a rate cut in the US will continue to dominate market sentiment with incoming data, such as December’s consumer price index (CPI), being key highlights for the week.
“The headline CPI is expected to be slightly higher at 3.2% in December from 3.1% in November, while Core CPI is likely to come down to 3.8% in December from 4% previously,” the economist told Bernama.
Afzanizam noted that the inflation report will be published on Thursday and markets will closely monitor such development to form their opinion on the timing of a rate cut.
At 6pm, the ringgit appreciated to 4.6405/4.6445 versus the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.6495/4.6535.
Meanwhile, at the close, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It strengthened versus the euro to 5.0790/5.0834 from 5.0852/5.0895 yesterday, but depreciated vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9092/5.9143 from 5.9025/5.9076 yesterday and against the Japanese yen to 3.2235/3.2265 from 3.2234/3.2264 previously.
The ringgit was traded mostly higher against Asean currencies.
It appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.4912/3.4947 from 3.4940/3.4973 at yesterday’s close and rose vis-à-vis the Philippine peso to 8.28/8.29 from 8.35/8.36.
The local currency appreciated versus the Indonesian rupiah to 298.9/299.4 from 299.4/299.8 but fell against the Thai baht to 13.2737/13.2928 from 13.2661/13.2870 yesterday.