KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened on a strong note against the US dollar as well as most major Asian and non-Asian currencies, while the market eagerly anticipates the results of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for Sept 19-20.

At 9.11 am, the local note rose to 4.6700/6750 against the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.6745/6795.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said that during this interim period, market participants will closely observe data points such as the US Consumer Price Index (CPI).

“The consensus among analysts is that the headline CPI will likely show a 3.6 per cent increase in August, following a 3.2 per cent uptick in the previous month.

“Consequently, it is expected that the exchange rate for US dollar vs ringgit will fluctuate within the range of RM4.66 to RM4.68,” he told Bernama.

The ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

It increased against the euro to 5.0030/0083 from Friday’s close of 5.0031/0085 and was up versus the British pound to 5.8310/8372 from 5.8352/8414

Meanwhile, it depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.1767/1803 from 3.1741/1777 previously.

The local note also traded stronger against other Asean currencies.

It appreciated vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.4227/4269 from 3.4277/4312 at Friday’s close and higher against the Indonesian rupiah at 304.6/305.1 from 304.9/305.4, rose against the Thai baht to 13.1220/1431 from 13.1591/1787 and was up against the Philippine peso at 8.24/8.26 from 8.25/8.26. – Bernama