KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit closed higher against the US dollar compared to last Friday, ahead of the United States (US) Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation data set to be unveiled later this week.

At 6 pm, the ringgit rose to 4.6785/6830 against the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.6830/6875.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said the ringgit is currently undergoing consolidation within a wider, yet predominantly optimistic range ahead of the release of PCE data.

The outcome of this data could potentially “influence the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) decision on rate cuts in the second quarter of 2024, particularly if the figures come in lower than market expectations and, most importantly, fall short of the Fed’s own inflation projections,” he told Bernama.

He also said that the currency movement aligns with the broader trend of weakness seen in the US dollar at the beginning of the week.

At the close, the ringgit was traded lower versus a basket of major currencies.

It depreciated against the euro at 5.1220/1269 from 5.1059/1108 on Friday’s closed, declined versus the Japanese yen to 3.1334/1366 from 3.1295/1327 and fell vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.8963/9020 from 5.8767/8823.

The local note traded mostly lower against other Asean currencies.

It was marginally lower versus the Singapore dollar to 3.4961/5000 from 3.4903/4940 and depreciated versus the Thai baht at 13.3181/3381 from 13.1949/2139 and was downed vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah at 301.9/302.3 from 300.8/301.3 at Friday’s close.

However, the local note appreciated against the Philippines’ peso to 8.43/8.45 from 8.45/8.46, previously. – Bernama