KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — The ringgit continued to strengthen against the US dollar at the opening session on Monday, continuing from last Friday, as the Malaysian economy was projected to grow higher in the second quarter, signalling that the country’s economy remains resilient.
Malaysia’s economy was forecast to grow by 4.5 per cent in the second quarter based on advance gross domestic product (GDP) estimates last Friday, slightly outpacing the previous quarter’s 4.4 per cent.
At 8 am, the ringgit rose to 4.2330/2540 against the greenback, compared to Friday’s close of 4.2410/2455.
However, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid sees the ringgit remaining in a narrow range as concerns over US tariffs continue to affect market sentiment as the August 1 deadline looms. “As such, expect ringgit to range between RM4.24 and RM4.25 today as traders remain fairly cautious,” he told Bernama.
At the opening, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It dipped against the Japanese yen to 2.8518/8662 from 2.8517/8549, strengthened against the British pound to 5.6790/7072 from 5.6999/7060 and advanced versus the euro to 4.9230/9474 from 4.9336/9388 at Friday’s close.
The local note also trended higher against most Asean currencies.
It rose vis-à-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.2944/3110 from 3.3027/3065, gained against the Thai baht to 13.0608/1337 from 13.3027/3065, appreciated against the Indonesian rupiah to 259.7/261.1 from 260.2/260.6 and edged up versus the Philippine peso to 7.40/7.44 from 7.41/7.43. previously.
