Ringgit To See RangeBound Trading Next Week

By Azlee Nor Mahmud KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 (Bernama) -- The ringgit is expected to remain range-bound next week, staying below the RM4.10 level against the US dollar, said FXTM global head of currency strategy Jameel Ahmad. “Technically, the level mentioned is where its 200-day and 50-day moving averages is starting to converge. The 4.0615 support line is expected to hold, as the currency pair bounced off that level several times last month,” he said. For the week ahead, Malaysia’s January Industrial Production Index (IPI) data release may offer some support to the local currency, should it post yet another positive surprise. “The IPI came in above market expectations every single month in the fourth quarter of 2018, underscoring the resilience of Malaysia’s economic fundamentals. “The consensus-beating exports figures from recent months have also lent themselves to that narrative,” he told Bernama. However, he said the local note momentum is still subject to the greenback performance, as well as other global factors. Jameel said until the US and China come to a conclusive trade agreement, prolonged trade tensions would continue to cast a cloud over global risk sentiment. Meanwhile, cooling global growth and Brexit uncertainties also continue to undermine risk-on sentiment, while Brent futures have struggled to climb past its year-to-date high. For the week just ended, the ringgit closed lower on falling global crude oil prices against the backdrop of a lower downside forecast by the European Central Bank and this lent support to the greenback. On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the ringgit was lower at 4.0890/0930 against the US dollar from 4.0720/0770 in the previous week. It also depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.6798/6847 from 3.6383/6438 but rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0064/0104 from 3.0105/0146 last Friday. The local unit strengthened against the euro to 4.5842/6895 from 4.6258/6319 and improved vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.3509/3577 from 5.3921/3000. -- BERNAMA