- Malaysia Ringgit (MYR) rises for a third day
- BNM is expected to leave rates unchanged at 3%
- US Dollar (USD) falls against major peers
- Fed cut rates by 50 bps
The US Dollar Malaysian Ringgit (USD/MYR) exchange rate is falling for a third straight day. The pair fell 0.24% lower in the previous session, settling on Wednesday at 4.2440. At 21:00 UTC, USD/MYR trades -0.8% at 4.21 and is in a range of 4.2070 to 4.2675.
The Malaysian Ringgit soared to a 28-month high against the greenback, retaining its position as one of the top-performing currencies in the region.
The Ringgit is benefitting from diverging monetary policy outlooks, with the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) likely to maintain its rate at 3% for the year.
The Ringgit also rose against a basket of currencies, including the pound, the yen, and the Singapore dollar.
The US Dollar is falling across the board. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades at 100.69 at the time of writing, down 0.33% after two days of gains.
The US dollar is falling lower as the market continues to weigh up the Federal Reserve’s September interest rate decision. The US central bank announced that it will start its rate-cutting cycle with a bumper 50 basis point cut.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve dot plot, which lays out policymakers’ expectations for future rate cuts pointed to a further two 25 basis point rate cuts this year, one most likely in November followed by another in December
Meanwhile, the market is pricing in around 75 basis points of cuts this year but still expects the US economy and the Federal Reserve to achieve a soft landing
US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell insisted that the Fed was not behind with rate cuts and said that the US economy remains strong.
On the data front, US jobless claims were stronger than expected, easing to 219,000, down from 230,000 in the previous week.
