Ringgit to trade between 4.14-4.16 against US dollar

KUALA LUMPUR -- The ringgit is expected to trade in the range of between 4.14 and 4.16 against the US dollar on stronger buying interest for the greenback, said OANDA Head of Trading in Asia-Pacific Stephen Innes.

He said it would be challenging for the ringgit stay bullish amid the ongoing US-China trade tensions and concerns over a faster pace of interest rate increase in the US.

"The external environment is not at all amicable for Asian emerging market (EM) currencies, which include the ringgit. Traders are buying the US dollar on declining stock prices," Innes told Bernama.

On the local front, he said with the upcoming 2019 Budget in focus, it would put more pressure on the government to deliver fiscally-prudent measures.

"While the terms of trade remain favourable due to (rising) oil prices, waning growth could be negative for the ringgit as it could trigger a dovish response from Bank Negara Malaysia," he added.

Meanwhile, FXTM Research Analyst Lukman Otunuga said amid the challenging global environment, the ringgit performed relatively better compared with other EM currencies, given the fact that Malaysia boasted a current account surplus.

“The US dollar remains a threat to upside gains. Technically, the US dollar-ringgit trajectory may be influenced by the latest US jobs report.

“Traders will continue to closely observe how prices behave when the ringgit hit the 4.1400 support level,” said Lukman.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the ringgit depreciated to 4.1440/1490 against the US dollar from 4.1370/1400.

However, it was mostly higher against other major currencies.

The ringgit increased against the Japanese yen to 3.6383/6443 from 3.6472/6501 last Friday, and was better against the euro at 4.7639/7714 from 4.7969/7007.

The local note improved against the Singapore dollar to 2.9975/3.0022 from 3.0232/0263 but fell against the British pound to 5.4017/4091 from 5.3984/3044. - Bernama

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