The ringgit opened sharply higher against the US dollar this morning, bolstered by strong demand for the local note after the positive announcement by Fitch Ratings, which revised Malaysia’s outlook to stable.

At 9am, the local currency was quoted at 3.7330/7380 against 3.7740/7770 yesterday.

The global rating agency also affirmed the country’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating (IDR) at ‘A-‘ and local currency IDR at ‘A’.

The issue ratings on Malaysia’s senior unsecured local currency bonds was also affirmed at ‘A’ while the outlook for long-rerm IDRs was revised to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’.

Against other major currencies, the ringgit was also traded higher.

It rose against the Singapore dollar to 2.7720/7775 from 2.8028/8061 yesterday and strengthened versus the yen to 3.0454/0507 from yesterday’s 3.0889/0921.

The local note significantly appreciated against the pound sterling to 5.8589/8690 from 5.9286/9348 and improved against the euro to 4.1567/1634 from 4.2076/2114 yesterday.

- Bernama