Ringgit ends 2017 on year-high

KUALA LUMPUR: A strong rally by the ringgit against the US dollar pushed the local unit to end 2017 at a year high on Friday, alongside the bullish sentiment for it, and amid a broadly weaker greenback, dealers said.
With a persistent upward momentum, the ringgit finished the last trading day at 4.0440/0500 versus the US dollar against 4.0650/0680 recorded yesterday.
Affin Hwang Investment Bank Vice President/Head of Retail Research Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said the buoyant ringgit was fuelled by the recovery in commodities, especially crude oil, crude palm oil and copper.
He said the upbeat performance was also influenced by the numerous positive local developments, including bullish foreign fund inflows into Malaysia, a strong equity market performance alongside upbeat economic data, as well as, prospects of a higher overnight policy rate.
"We have a lot of strong catalysts driving the ringgit, with our reserves showing an increasing trend. These all bode well for the ringgit," he told Bernama.
The central bank's international reserves amounted to US$102.2 billion (RM431.6 billion) as at Dec 15, 2017, compared with US$101.9 billion (RM430.4 billion) as at Nov 30, 2017.
The US dollar remained under pressure, closing Friday at a near one-month low, with the recent steep fall in the US Treasury bond yields and weaker-than-expected economic data as among the key reasons.
Meanwhile, the ringgit also traded firmer against a basket of major currencies.
It climbed against the Singapore dollar to 3.0265/0323 from 3.0372/0401 and appreciated vis-a-vis the yen to 3.5912/5968 from 3.6002/0041 yesterday.
The local unit rose against the euro to 4.8451/8535 from 4.8495/5543 and strengthened versus the British pound to 5.4602/4687 from 5.4654/4711. — Bernama