Malaysian Ringgit Higher In Early Trade

KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian ringgit opened higher on Thursday amid updates from the US, which persistently pressured the US dollar. At 9 am, the local unit was quoted at 4.2520/2550 against the greenback from Wednesday’s 4.2560/2600. FXTM Research Analyst, Lukman Otunuga, said the recent weakness in US inflation has not only sparked concerns for the health of the US economy but also created uncertainty around the Federal Reserve’s policy plan for 2017. “Focusing on the greenback, the currency has had a turbulent year. I feel the outlook remains tilted to the downside as political uncertainty in Washington and soft economic data weigh heavily on the currency. “With a dovish increase on the cards in today’s meeting, the Dollar Index could find itself under renewed selling pressure,” he said in a statement. The Federal Reserve wrapped up a two-day meeting on Wednesday and raised benchmark interest rate to one per cent to 1.25 per cent. The ringgit was traded easier against a basket of major currencies except against the British pound. It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0883/0921 from 3.0850/0890 Wednesday and against the euro, the local currency slipped to 4.7699/7737 from 4.7688/4746 on Wednesday. The ringgit depreciated further versus the Japanese yen to 3.8753/8791 from 3.8614/8653 on Wednesday. Against the British pound, it rose to 5.4202/4281 from 5.4230/4285 on Wednesday. -- BERNAMA