KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit remained well-supported against the US dollar, closing the trading week at the 4.37 level.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said market participants are waiting for the United States Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium tonight for further confirmation of a potential rate cut next month.
At 6 pm, the ringgit increased to 4.3720/3775 against the US dollar compared to 4.3760/3800 at the close on Thursday.
Mohd Afzanizam noted that the ringgit has continued to strengthen, adding that the local currency was also firmer against other major currencies, including the euro, British pound, and the Singapore dollar.
He said that markets are gearing up for Powell's speech tonight.
"This calls for caution, as if the speech turns out to be uneventful, the US dollar could reverse its losses. It's a delicate situation since the ringgit has appreciated by 0.17 per cent on a week-on-week basis," he told Bernama.
Mohd Afzanizam added that the US dollar/ringgit pair broke the previous immediate resistance level of RM4.4005 on Monday, and since then, it has been hovering around the RM4.3700-RM4.3800 range.
"The current resistance level is at RM4.3000, and given the positive economic data for Malaysia, the pair might be heading in that direction," he said.
At the close, the ringgit was stronger against a basket of major currencies.
The local currency strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.9914/9956 from 3.0051/0082 at the close on Thursday, improved vis-a-vis the euro to 4.8604/8665 from 4.8744/8789 yesterday and appreciated against the British pound to 5.7391/7463 from 5.7431/7483 previously.
At the same time, the local note traded mixed against ASEAN currencies.
The ringgit gained against the Singapore dollar to 3.3410/3454 from 3.3474/3507 at Thursday's close and was firmer against the Philippines' peso at 7.75/7.76 from 7.76/7.78 yesterday.
However, it declined versus the Indonesian rupiah to 282.1/282.7 from 280.4/280.9 on Thursday and fell vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 12.7575/7810 from 12.7383/7552 previously.