The ringgit ended flat against the US dollar today as the market focussed on the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) January 2024 meeting minutes to see what transpired at the first policy meeting of 2024, said AmBank Group Economic Research. The outcome of the FOMC meeting would set the tone for the remaining months of the year. The lack of clear guidance on the outlook for rate cuts supported the US Dollar Index.
The January FOMC meeting minutes showed policymakers were somewhat cautious about lowering the rates too quickly. At 6pm, the ringgit/greenback exchange rate stood at 4.7750/4.7795, unchanged from last Friday’s close. The local currency eased vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.1696/3.1728, fell against the British pound to 6.0552/6.0609, and slipped versus the euro to 5.1756/5.1805