KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit ended marginally higher against the US dollar yesterday after trading in a narrow range throughout the day, says an analyst.
At 6pm, the ringgit traded at 4.7120/7155 against the greenback versus last Friday’s close of 4.7160/7190.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar/ringgit was as low as RM4.7130 during the morning session but went up to as high as RM4.7158 during the afternoon session.
“US dollar versus yen remained in the spotlight as the Japanese currency weakened to 161.80 yen.
“The Japanese government revised its gross domestic product growth downwards from minus 1.8% to minus 2.9% in the first quarter this year, suggesting the Bank of Japan may refrain from raising its policy rates soon,” he told Bernama.
In general, he said, the prevailing condition still favours the US dollar and the data points for this week would be quite critical to determine whether the Federal Reserve might resort to more rate cuts this year.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
