According to an analyst, the ringgit rose versus the US dollar at the open today as the greenback declined after banking-related stocks in the United States (US) plummeted substantially over worries over the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

By 9 a.m., the local currency was trading at 4.4850/4950 per dollar, up from yesterday’s closing rate of 4.4925/4965.

Following the collapse of SVB, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd’s head of economics, market analysis, and social finance, Dr. Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, said the market expected the US Federal Reserve to be more dovish at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting next week.

“Furthermore, the European Central Bank is likely to stay hawkish when it meets on March 16, with the consensus indicating a 50-basis point increase in the deposit facility rate, which is presently 2.50 percent,” he told Bernama.

On a more local level, he predicted that the ringgit will strengthen versus the US dollar today.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was largely trading down against a basket of major currencies.

It fell against the pound to 5.4551/4673 from 5.4292/4340 at the closing on Monday, and it fell against the euro to 4.8075/8182 from 4.7957/8000, while it increased against the Japanese yen to 3.3656/3734 from 3.3727/3763 yesterday.

Meanwhile, the local currency rose versus its Asean peers.

The ringgit rose against the Thai baht to 12.9797/13.0158 from 12.9819/9994 yesterday, against the Singapore dollar to 3.3274/3351 from 3.3354/3389 previously, against the Indonesian rupiah to 291.60/292.40 from 292.10/292.25 previously, and against the Philippine peso to 8.15/8.19 from 8.17/8.18 previously.

Info source – Bernama