KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit ended the holiday-shortened week higher against the US dollar today on a technical rebound after trending lower for the past few days, despite the greenback’s gains against its major rivals.

A dealer said sentiments remained cautious as traders digested the mixed United States (US) macroeconomic data.

At 6 pm, the local note improved to 4.4600/4645 versus the greenback from 4.4605/4660 at Thursday’s close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid noted that this week’s currency market has been quite volatile.

He opined that the fall in the First Republic Bank share prices, the US debt ceiling debate, as well as the first quarter of 2023 gross domestic product (GDP) print for the US economy, have led to a risk-off mode to seep in.

“If the Federal Reserve (Fed) pushes forward with the interest rate hike, it might lead to slower labour hiring as businesses would become mindful of the economic outlook and how it might affect their profitability.

“We believe there could be a chance that the Fed might become dovish in their economic assessment, and this is supporting the ringgit,” he told Bernama.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said even though the preliminary US GDP was below consensus, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, came in well above consensus.

“Hence this firms up the case for a 25 basis points hike at next week’s Fed meeting, so the US dollar traded stronger today.

“On a positive note, China’s Politburo held its regular April meeting today to assess the country’s economic situation and review its policies.

“The main point is that China’s ongoing commitment to growth should clear the air of any concerns that policymakers might pre-maturely withdraw its economic policy support,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies except for the British pound.

It appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.2770/2805 from 3.3337/3381 and rose vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9011/9060 from 4.9235/9296 on Thursday but fell versus the British pound to 5.5558/5614 from 5.5506/5575 previously.

The local note traded mixed against Asean currencies.

It weakened against the Indonesian rupiah to 303.9/304.3 from 303.2/303.7 on Thursday and declined against the Philippine peso to 8.05/8.06 from 8.00/8.02 previously.

It rose versus the Singapore dollar at 3.3351/3387 from 3.3379/3423 yesterday and gained against the Thai baht to 13.0612/0801 from 13.0626/0841. – Bernam