KUALA LUMPUR, 6 June 2017:
The ringgit extended yesterday’s positive trend to open higher against the US dollar today as most investors shifted their interest towards emerging currencies, including the ringgit, a dealer said.
At 9.15am, the local unit was quoted at 4.2590/2640 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.2620/2650.
Against a basket of major currencies, the ringgit traded mixed.
It strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.0831/0890 from 3.0880/0913 yesterday but depreciated to 5.5005/5078 against the British pound from 5.5001/5057.
The local unit weakened against the yen to 3.8697/8746 from 3.8560/8590 yesterday but rose against the euro to 4.7978/805 from 4.8007/8045 previously.
Reuters reported the US dollar held firm early today after crawling away from an 18-day low against the yen – thanks to a bounce in US yields, while the Australian dollar was steady ahead of a policy decision by the country’s central bank later in the day.
The US currency was had slipped overnight to ¥110.250 – its lowest since May 18.
The dollar had came under pressure as Friday’s weaker-than-expected US non-farm jobs report prompted investors to pare back expectations of future interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve.
US Treasury yields fell sharply in response to the employment data but pulled higher a little yesterday to give the US dollar some breathing space.
Still, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield not far from a seven-month low plumbed on Friday, the US dollar’s recovery was limited.
“The broader decline in Treasury yields amid a less rosy outlook for the global economy is weighing on the dollar. But on the other hand, the upbeat equity markets is good for risk sentiment and this prevents the dollar from falling too much against the yen,” said Shin Kadota, a senior strategist at Barclays in Tokyo.
“Dollar/yen sees ample support at ¥110.00 but its range has also narrowed down due to such factors.”
The euro was steady at US$1.1255 after slipping about 0.3% the previous day to pull away from seven-month high scaled on the dollar’s broader decline.
The common currency’s advance also stalled as a wait-and-see mood prevailed ahead of Thursday’s European Central Bank policy meeting.