KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit was lower against the US dollar in early trade today as the greenback had strengthened after the United States (US) announced its gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter of 2023 (2Q 2023) last night.

At 9 am, the local note depreciated to 4.5490/5525 against the greenback compared with 4.5215/5260 at Thursday’s close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said that the US data points showed that its economy remained resilient despite enduring massive interest rate hikes since last year.

“Its 2Q 2023 GDP came in higher at 2.4 per cent against consensus estimates of 1.8 per cent, while its initial jobless claims also declined to 221,000 last week, which is lower compared with the market’s expectation of 235,000.

“Consequently, the US Dollar Index rose by 0.88 per cent to 101.77 points,” he told Bernama.

As such, Mohd Afzanizam expects the ringgit to range between RM4.52 and RM4.53 today as markets are still contemplating whether the US Federal Reserve would raise its benchmark interest rate further following better-than-expected data.

In the meantime, the local unit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

It decreased against the Japanese yen to  3.2619/2646 from 3.2285/2319 on Thursday, but strengthened versus the euro to 4.9948/9986 from  5.0374/0424, and firmed vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.8186/8231 from 5.8685/8743 yesterday.

At the same time, the local note was traded mostly lower against other Asean currencies.

The ringgit slid versus the Singapore dollar to 3.4170/4198 from 3.4163/4200 at the close on Thursday, fell against the Indonesian rupiah to 303.2/303.6 from 301.3/301.8 and declined vis-a-vis the Philippines’ peso to 8.30/8.32 from 8.28/8.30 yesterday.

However, it was higher against the Thai baht to 13.1702/1861 from 13.2634/2829 previously. – BERNAMA