KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened unchanged against the US dollar in early trade today, as traders were cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) meeting, a dealer said.
At 9 am, the local unit was traded at 4.4555/4595 against the greenback from 4.4555/4595 on Tuesday.
The dealer said traders were unsure of what the Fed’s Chair, Janet Yellen, would announce on the future interest rates.
“Yellen has said March interest rate increase is among the topics discussed during the two-day meeting, and whatever is announced later on will provide clues for the other currencies,” he said.
However, he said that with the recent improvement in the crude oil prices, local traders were hoping to see some positive sentiment towards the ringgit.
Oil prices rose to near three-week highs yesterday after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said it would maintain its decision to cut production.
Brent crude LCOc1 ended the session at US$56.66 per barrel, up 48 US cents, or 0.9 per cent.
As for today, the local note was traded lower versus major currencies.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.1392/1431 from 3.1317/1352 on Tuesday and weakened versus the yen to 3.9228/9270 from 3.9166/9211 yesterday.
The ringgit decreased against the British pound to 5.5685/5739 from 5.5368/5445 yesterday and vis-a-vis the euro it declined to 4.6988/7034 from 4.6965/7017 on Tuesday. -- Bernama