KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit is likely to remain in range-bound trading against the US dollar next week as markets further digest the global economic outlook, an analyst said.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid expected the local currency to linger in a narrow range around 4.7000 after appreciating earlier in the week.
He said the market's focus started to shift to the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which is scheduled to convene on June 11 and 12.
He noted that the main issue affecting market sentiments is whether the Federal Reserve (Fed) would cut the rates or let them remain as they are.
"That has been the main focus as the economic data has been quite mixed while Fed officials are signaling their hawkish stance on inflation," he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, the US non-farm payrolls (NFP) data for May is also anticipated to influence the market sentiment in the upcoming week.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the ringgit appreciated to 4.7050/7080 against the greenback compared to 4.7100/7130 a week earlier.
For the week just ended, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local note fell against the British pound to 5.9876/9914 from 5.9859/9898 a week earlier, eased versus the euro to 5.1035/1068 compared to 5.1000/1032 but was marginally up vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 2.9901/9922 from 2.9996/3.0017.
The local unit was traded higher against ASEAN currencies.
It strengthened against the Indonesian rupiah to 289.4/289.7 from 294.5/294.7 last Friday and improved vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.4803/4828 from 3.4876/4901 previously.
The local note was higher versus the Philippine peso to 8.03/8.05 from 8.09/8.10 a week earlier and appreciated against the Thai baht to 12.7860/7994 from 12.8373/8507.
-- BERNAMA