KUALA LUMPUR - The ringgit took a breather from yesterday’s rally to open almost flat against the US dollar this morning, with support for the local note remaining positive.
At 9.05am, the local currency was traded at 4.4295/4365 against the greenback compared with 4.4250/4300 at the close on Monday.
A dealer said support for the ringgit would remain positive as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is scheduled to table a special allocation or Mini Budget 2023 involving a total of RM107.72 billion in the Dewan Rakyat today.
According to the Order Paper, Anwar who is also the Finance Minister, will table the provision under the Consolidated Fund (Expenditure Into Account) Act 2022 which will come into force on Jan 1, 2023.
"Positive sentiment, also brought about by strong economic forecast on the back of strong exports and trade surplus for Malaysia as well as firm crude oil prices, would continue to lend support for the ringgit,” he said.
This week, investors will focus on key data from the United States, which will release its December Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index and Dec 17 week Initial Jobless Claims, followed by inflation figures from Malaysia, Singapore and Japan, while China will also be announcing its December Loan Prime Rate.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
The local note was marginally lower versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2644/2701 from 3.2633/2674 at Monday’s close.
However, it rose against the British pound to 5.3792/3877 from 5.4043/4104 yesterday, appreciated vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.2257/2312 from 3.2515/2554 previously, and strengthened versus the euro to 4.6962/7036 from 4.7016/7069. - BERNAMA