Thank you FOMC! Ringgit wakes up from slumber

<p>&nbsp;This morning, the ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar after the index declined due to the results of the last policy meeting of the Federal Reserve (Fed), giving a clear signal about its monetary stance for next year.</p><p><br /></p><p>At 9 this morning, the ringgit rose to 4.6610/6670 against the US dollar from yesterday's close of 4.7035/7085. The US Dollar Index (DXY) fell 0.96% to 102,869 points.</p><p><br /></p><p>According to Dr Afzanizam, Bank Muamalat Malaysia's Head of Economics and Social Finance said the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has decided to maintain the Federal Funds Rate (FFR) at 5.25%-5.50% and is signaling more interest rate cuts between 2024 and 2026.</p><p><br /></p><p>He also said that the Fed has signaled that a rate cut will happen in 2024. The main question now is the amount of the rate cut and how fast they will change their stance.</p><p><br /></p><p>The two-year US treasury yield fell by 27 basis points to close at 4.46% and the 10-year note fell by 16 basis points to close at 4.04%.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Afzanizam said the local currency is expected to continue to rise through the Fed's latest clear signal, likely to remain at the support level of rm4.5778.</p><p><br /></p><p>Meanwhile, the ringgit traded better than other world currencies.</p><p><br /></p><p>It rose against the British pound to 5.8896/8972 from 5.8916/8979, eased slightly against the euro to 5.0768/0833 from 5.0737/0791 and weakened against the Japanese yen to 3.2775/2825 previously.</p><p><br /></p><p>The ringgit is also mostly higher against several Asean currencies.</p><p><br /></p><p>It strengthened against the Philippine peso to 8.35/8.38 to 8.39/8.40, stronger against the Indonesian rupiah to 297.5/298.1 from 300.2/300.8 at yesterday's close.</p><p><br /></p><p>The local currency rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.4995/5045 from 3.5001/5041 and fell against the Thai baht to 13.2864/3115 from 13.1390/1592.</p>