Kuala lumpur: The ringgit ended the week higher against regional currencies, but eased against the US dollar ahead of the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium later tonight as traders await signals on the United States' (US) monetary policy. At 6 pm, the local note inched down to 4.2245/2295 against the US dollar from yesterday's close of 4.2235/2275.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid mentioned that market players are focusing on US Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell's speech at tonight's symposium. Traders are keen to gather insights on whether the Fed will cut the interest rate in the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in September. The probability of an interest rate cut has decreased to 74 percent from over 80 percent previously, indicating that markets remain uncertain about the Fed's decision on the rate cut.
Meanwhile, domestically, Mohd Afzanizam noted that Malaysia's inflation rose 1.2 percent year-on-year in July 2025, aligning broadly with expectations, as reported by the Department of Statistics Malaysia today. The stability in the consumer price index suggests a stable inflation rate, which could be advantageous for the economy and the ringgit.
At the close, the ringgit settled mostly higher against a basket of major currencies. It appreciated against the euro to 4.8996/9054 from 4.9226/9263 on Thursday and increased in value compared to the Japanese yen to 2.8408/8443 from 2.8595/8626 previously. However, it fell against the British pound to 5.6659/6726 from 5.6899/6953 yesterday.
The local currency also showed strength against other ASEAN currencies. It strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.2763/2805 from 3.2819/2853 at Thursday's close, gained against the Thai baht to 12.9387/9592 from 12.9460/9638 yesterday, and edged up against the Indonesian rupiah to 258.3/258.7 from 259.2/259.6 previously. However, the ringgit slightly decreased against the Philippines' peso to 7.42/7.43 from 7.40/7.42 yesterday.