The Ringgit Is Increasingly Weak, Still Remaining At Deteriorating Levels

<p>&nbsp;The Malaysian ringgit (RM) opened higher against the US dollar due to the positive sentiment on the US economic data, namely the labor market, employment growth and strengthening market expectations for interest rate cuts.</p><p><br /></p><p>At exactly 9am this morning, the ringgit opened insignificantly at 4.7140 against the US dollar, compared to its close of 4.7165 yesterday.</p><p><br /></p><p>According to Bank Muamalat Malaysia's Chief Economist, Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US Initial Jobless Claims report last week dropped to 187,000 compared to the previous reading of 203,000.</p><p><br /></p><p>This shows that the labor market in the US is still showing a resilient trend even though expectations of interest rate cuts are still high.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>He said again, it may be counterintuitive for a rate cut that is expected to be lowered in March.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, the US Dollar Index (DXY) remains at 103 points as long as the Federal Reserve's stance does not change in the near term. This situation makes the ringgit continue to weaken.</p><p><br /></p><p>Meanwhile, the ringgit traded higher compared to the world's major currencies except for the British pound which was at 5.9910 compared to 5.9782 yesterday.</p><p><br /></p><p>The ringgit is trading higher against the euro and also the Japanese yen.</p><p><br /></p><p>The local currency traded quite mixed compared to the Asean currency group. It strengthened against the Philippine peso and the Indonesian rupiah. However, it depreciated against the Thai baht and also the Singapore dollar.</p>