ID :
405522
Sat, 04/30/2016 - 08:33
Auther :

Ringgit Likely To Trend Higher Next Week

By Zarul Effendi Razali KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 (Bernama) -- The ringgit is expected to trend higher next week, supported by positive catalysts including the appointment of a new Bank Negara Malaysia (The Central Bank of Malaysia) Governor and good Economic Transformation Programme highlights. Affin Hwang Investment Bank vice-president/head of retail research Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said the local note gained significantly upon the new governor's announcement which augurs well for the confidence of foreign investors. "The ringgit's performance puts it at a fraction above its lowest level since last July 2015 as investors infer a more dovish stance of late from the US Federal Reserve, leaving rates unchanged as the Fed signalled less concern about global economic risks," he told Bernama. The dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of its peers, traded down 0.7 per cent to 93.76 while the ringgit zoomed 1.8 per cent higher to an almost nine-month high of 3.8868. Nazri said the market sentiment should also be empowered by Prime Minister Najib Razak's announcement that social and economic measures under the National Transformation Programme (NTP) have exceeded expectations across the board. On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the local note ended lower against the greenback at 3.9000/9070 compared with 3.8940/8000 last week. The ringgit also fell against the Singapore dollar to 2.9024/9083 from last Friday's 2.8838/8904 and weakened against the yen to 3.6411/6487 from 3.5281/5342 previously. It fell against the British pound to 5.6862/6984 from last Friday's 5.5852/5957 and decreased against the euro to 4.4370/4462 from 4.3893/3969 previously. The market will be closed on Monday for Labour Day. -- BERNAMA

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