Ringgit likely to trade higher
The ringgit is expected to trade higher next week in line with the anticipation of a stronger Bursa Malaysia, dealers said.
"The recent better performance of the local bourse has attracted foreign investors to buy more ringgit and this momentum is expected to continue next week," a dealer said.
The dealer also said reports on the Bank of Japan's plan to double the country's money supply to tackle deflation could potentially dampen gains in the US dollar, thus spurring risk appetite towards emerging currencies, including the ringgit.
However, another dealer said gains for the ringgit could be capped by pre-election uncertainty and is expected to trade at the 3.0850 level.
For the week just ended, the ringgit began with thin trade against the greenback.
But it picked up from Tuesday onward on strong buying interest from foreign investors, coupled with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's announcement on the dissolution of Parliament.
The ringgit hovered between 3.0565 and 3.0920 against the greenback throughout the week.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the local unit closed the week at 3.0565/0585 against the US dollar, up from 3.0920/0950.
Meanwhile, the local note was higher against other major currencies.
It rose against the Singapore dollar to 2.4689/4713 compared with
2.4946/4972 last Friday, and appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.1746/1783 against 3.2869/2915 previously.
The local currency also improved against the British pound to 4.6526/6569 from 4.6964/7019 last Friday, and gained against the euro to 3.9502/9534 versus 3.9633/9678 previously.-- Bernama