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A money changer counts US dollar notes in Kuala Lumpur October 29, 2021. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon
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KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — The ringgit opened flat versus the US dollar on Friday despite oil prices surging amidst Russian supply concerns.
At 9.20am, the local currency was unchanged at 4.1945/1980 versus the greenback from Thursday’s close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist, Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit is likely to trade within in a narrow range today as the rise in global interest rates indicate that economic recovery is ongoing, while the Russia-Ukraine military conflict could pose a great challenge on the macroeconomic environment.
“The monetary tightening campaign has continued with the Bank of England (BoE) joining its United States counterpart, raising its benchmark interest rate by another 25 basis points to 0.75 per cent.
“This is the third rate hike since last December, supporting the view that the global economy is firming up despite concerns over the war in Ukraine,’’ he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Brent crude price trended higher at US$107 per barrel as prospects of peace talks looks dim.
At the opening, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies, except versus the Japanese yen where it rose to 3.5343/5375 from 3.5364/5396 at Thursday’s close.
The local unit weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.0990/1018 from 3.0931/0959 yesterday, declined against the British pound at 5.5216/5262 from 5.5212/5258, and was lower against the euro at 4.6559/6598 from 4.6311/6350 previously. — Bernama