After the minutes of the US Federal Open Market Committee, the ringgit opened lower versus the US dollar.
According to an analyst, the ringgit opened lower versus the US dollar as the greenback rallied following the release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes from the United States (US).
The local currency opened at 4.2145/2180 against the dollar, down from 4.2130/2155 at Wednesday’s close.
The FOMC meeting minutes rattled key stock benchmarks, according to Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd head economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid.
According to Mohd Afzanizam, there have been clear discussions about how the US Federal Reserve (Fed) would lower the size of its balance sheet.
According to the minutes, the options provided are likely to be more aggressive than the 2017-2019 experience, according to Mohd Afzanizam.
He said that the Fed’s balance sheet has shrunk from US$4.45 trillion at the start of 2017 to US$4.17 trillion, a reduction of less than US$1 billion.
The Fed hinted that tightening labour markets and rising inflation warranted the start of the balance sheet run-off. In today’s market, this would be the main focus. According to Mohd Afzanizam, the US Dollar Index (DXY) has already risen 0.13 percent to 99.59 points.
As a result, he anticipates the ringgit to trade today between RM4.21 and RM4.22.
The ringgit opened mainly down versus a basket of major currencies, with the exception of the British pound, which gained to 5.5109/5155 from 5.5178/5210 at the close on Wednesday.
The local currency fell to 3.1007/1035 from 3.1001/1021 against the Singapore dollar, 3.4095/4126 against the Japanese yen from 3.4014/4034, and 4.5989/6027 against the euro from 4.5964/5991 yesterday.
