Ringgit unchanged at opening

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened unchanged today amid mixed market sentiment.

At 9.05am, the ringgit remained at 4.2820/2880 against the greenback.

AxiCorp global chief market strategist Stephen Innes said the market will refocus on the regional cyclical economic upswings and higher oil prices, which should be favourable for the ringgit.

“The oil prices and stocks are trading higher as I expected but the rating agency downgrade was a bit of a sideswipe although not fully unexpected,” he told Bernama.

On June 26, S&P Global Ratings reaffirmed Malaysia’s A- credit rating but revised its outlook from “stable” to “negative”.

“The rating warning is not that hugely negative for a currency, but in the case of Malaysia it will bring more focus on the budget deficit and the poor shape the government coffers are in,” he added.

Against other benchmark currencies, the ringgit was traded higher.

The local note appreciated vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.2673/2751 from 5.2788/2880 yesterday and rose versus the Singapore dollar to 3.0717/0778 from 3.0746/0800.

It also strengthened against the euro to 4.8125/8210 from 4.8254/8339 and was stronger against the Japanese yen at 3.9755/9818 versus 3.9933/4.0000.

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