An analyst said the ringgit opened higher against the US dollar today as the greenback seemed to be capped amid rising risk appetites.

The local note was 4.3915/3995 against the US dollar at 9 am, up from 4.3950/4000 on Wednesday.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the market’s expectations of China’s easing of COVID-19 restrictions strengthened the Politburo China, which has significantly accelerated its preparation for a full reopening, lifting the ringgit.

He told Bernama that Asia’s exporters of consumer goods and tourism services to China will benefit from China’s exit from zero-COVID, making the ringgit and Thai Baht stand out.

He also noted that the US 10-year yield had plummeted overnight, which was good news for local traders since the ringgit is sensitive to it.

ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said investors are still uncertain about the US Federal Reserve (Fed) in the coming months.

He said investors are awaiting the US Initial Jobless Claims data and the Producer Price Index (PPI) for market direction clues.

“Technically, the US dollar is still showing a Relative Strength Index (RSI) of below 30 against the ringgit, which suggests an oversold situation, whereby a bullish move could start over the next few days,” he added.

Today, the ringgit fell against a basket of major currencies.

The local note fell against the British pound to 5.3559/3656 from 5.3320/3381 at Wednesday’s close and the euro to 4.6111/6195 from 4.6055/6108 yesterday.

It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.2364/2428 from 3.2323/2365 on Wednesday and the Japanese yen to 3.2142/2205 from 3.1936/1974.

info source – Bernama