KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit rebounded this morning after a week of losses despite the greenback firming after an unexpected drop in US unemployment benefits.
At 9 am, the local note improved to 4.6730/6780 against the greenback from Thursday's close of 4.6755/6795.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the latest US labour market indicator continued to point to a firm American economy.
The initial jobless claims fell to 216,000 last week from the week before of 229,000, while continuing claims also declined to 1.679 million, well below the consensus forecast of 1.719 million.
Consequently, the US Dollar Index (DXY) jumped to 105.059 points, with the greenback in high demand as the US Federal Reserve (Fed) is expected to maintain its hawkish stance.
"Perhaps there could have been some intervention that helped push the ringgit higher this morning.
"Nevertheless, technical indicators such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) for the ringgit is near oversold conditions, (but) the ringgit could stay weak at around RM4.67 to RM4.69 (against the US dollar)," he told Bernama.
The ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It increased against the euro to 5.0062/0115 from Thursday's close of 5.0093/0136 but declined versus the British pound to 5.8356/8419 from 5.8289/8339 and against the Japanese yen to 3.1774/1810 from 3.1707/1736 previously.
The local note traded mixed against other Asean currencies.
It appreciated vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.4249/42895 from 3.4270/4305 at yesterday's close and higher against the Indonesian rupiah at 304.8/305.3 from 305.0/305.4.
The ringgit went down versus the Thai baht to 13.1378/1571 from 13.1301/1469 and was flat against the Philippine peso at 8.23/8.25 from 8.23/8.24 previously.
-- BERNAMA