Malaysian ringgit climbs against peers but slips versus the US dollar

The Malaysian ringgit ended the trading day higher against a basket of major currencies but modestly weaker versus the US dollar, closing at 4.0780/0825 compared with Tuesday's 4.0730/0775. Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, chief economist at Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd, explained that investors expect the Federal Reserve to raise rates by an additional 50 basis points this year, which supports the dollar. The ringgit briefly touched 4.0640 per dollar in the morning before slipping back.

It appreciated against the euro (4.6522/6573), British pound (5.4156/4216) and Japanese yen (2.5836/5868), as well as the Singapore dollar and Thai baht. However, it fell against the Indonesian rupiah (228.8/229.2) and Philippine peso (6.51/6.52). Other Asian currencies showed mixed movements, indicating the ringgit's performance was not isolated.