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Ringgit leads Asian currencies against US dollar
Published:  Jan 26, 2018 12:18 PM
Updated: 4:22 AM

The ringgit opened slightly lower against the US dollar today but remained steady amidst positive sentiment surrounding the market, according to Bernama.

At 9am, the ringgit stood at 3.8850/8900 against the greenback, from Thursday's close of 3.8840/8870.

Meanwhile, the local note traded higher against a basket of other major currencies.

It strengthened against the euro to 4.8197/8271 from Thursday's 4.8286/8327, and rose against the Singapore dollar to 2.9663/9706 from 2.9746/9781.

The ringgit was higher against the British pound at 5.5027/5102 from 5.5491/5537 and appreciated against the yen to 3.5415/5464 from 3.5630/5661 previously.

Meanwhile, The Edge reported that the ringgit was leading the pack in Asia against the US dollar.

The business publication said certain quarters have attributed the strong ringgit to Bank Negara Malaysia's decision on a 25-basis-point hike on its overnight policy rate (OPR) — the first hike in four years.

“The rate hike is taken as an indication of the central bank’s confidence of a rather rosy picture of the domestic economy.

“However, others attributed the ringgit's appreciation partly to the current soft US dollar. There could be a reversal of trend when the US Federal Reserve adopts a hawkish policy to raise interest rates,” it added.

Since Jan 26, 2016, The Edge said the ringgit has appreciated 9.498 percent to the greenback in the past two years.

Meanwhile, the ringgit gained 8.84% to 5.5518 against the British pound yesterday, and 0.65% to 2.981 against the Singapore dollar. However, it weakened by 3.74% to 4.8306 against the euro.

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