The ringgit is expected to trade range-bound against the US dollar next week as investors await the upcoming Bank Negara Malaysia policy meeting on Thursday, said an analyst.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said as investors await financial signals from the meeting, the local note would likely trade between RM4.15 and RM4.16 against the greenback.
“Nevertheless, the US Federal Reserve is likely to announce the tapering of its asset purchases in November and begin the process a month later,” he told Bernama, adding that the timeline to raise the federal funds rate would take a longer time as mentioned by the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.
The number of new Covid-19 cases recorded in Malaysia dropped to 19,378 yesterday, compared to 20,988 on Thursday, bringing the cumulative number of cases to 1,805,382 infections.
On a weekly basis, the ringgit strengthened to 4.1445/1475 against the greenback on Friday from 4.1890/1930 a week ago.
The ringgit also traded higher against other major currencies compared to a week earlier.
It climbed against the Singapore dollar to 3.0876/0903 from 3.1009/1041 a week before and rose against the British pound to 5.7352/7393 from 5.7427/7482 previously.
The local note also widened against the euro to 4.9195/9231 from 4.9254/9301 and advanced on the Japanese yen to 3.7705/7735 from 3.8044/8084 on the previous Friday. – BERNAMA
