KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit opened marginally higher against the US dollar today amid cautious trading ahead of the United States government’s import tariff imposition on Canada and Mexico as well as China.
At 8am, the ringgit improved to 4.4595/4650 versus the greenback from 4.4600/4650 at Friday’s close.
The 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico as well as the 10% tariff on China are scheduled to take effect on Tuesday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the headline and core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation rates, which are the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) favourite inflation gauge, trended lower to 2.5% and 2.6%, respectively, in January 2025, suggesting that restrictive monetary policy is warranted to keep the risk of higher inflation at bay.
“In addition, the Fed is expected to keep the rate steady until they are convinced that inflation rate will move towards the two per cent target,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It strengthened versus the Japanese yen to 2.9564/9605 from 2.9682/9717 at Friday’s close, but slipped against the British pound to 5.6185/6255 from 5.6174/6237 at the end of last week and fell vis-a-vis the euro to 4.6423/6481 from 4.6362/6414 previously.
In contrast, the local currency was traded mostly higher against Asean currencies.
It appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.3036/3081 from 3.3069/3108 on Friday, rose vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 13.0242/0498 from 13.0455/0670 and improved versus Indonesian rupiah to 268.6/269.1 from 268.7/269.1.
However, the ringgit was flat against the Philippine peso at 7.69/7.70. – March 3, 2025