Weak Ringgit On First Day 2024, Is It Just Temporary?

<p>&nbsp;Today, the Malaysian Ringgit (RM) opened slightly lower on the first day of 2024 although sentiment for the local note was seen as strong. Last week, it closed higher by a margin of 0.3%.</p><p><br /></p><p>At exactly 9am this morning, the ringgit was at 4.5910 against the US dollar compared to its closing value of 4.5900 last Friday.</p><p><br /></p><p>According to the AmBank group, the ringgit strengthened by 0.3% on the last trading day of 2023 which closed at a level below 4.6000 which is RM4.59. It is the highest value since August 2023 and is currently circulating around the 4.578 to 4.618 level.</p><p><br /></p><p>In his statement, they expect the ringgit to continue to rise throughout this week ahead of the latest US economic data. Investors will focus on the US Primary Labor Market and PMI data this week for the start of 2024.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, the local currency is trading low against several major world currencies.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The ringgit was seen lower against the Japanese yen at 3.2519 than it closed last Friday at 3.2356. However, it was slightly stronger against the euro at 5.0675 and the British pound at 5.8416 from last week.</p><p><br /></p><p>In addition, the ringgit is also traded low and unchanged compared to several other Asean currencies.</p><p><br /></p><p>It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.4786 from 3.4746 at Friday's close and was almost unchanged against the Philippine peso which remained at 8.28 the same as before.</p><p><br /></p><p>The local currency saw little change against the Indonesian rupiah at 298.1 from 298.1 on Friday and eased against the Thai baht to 13.3728 from 13.3422.</p><p><br /></p><p>Asian markets were closed on Monday following the New Year public holiday.</p>