08 MAY FX for the Ringgit

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hi,

The ringgit and foreign exchange reports from today's the Star, and Bernama :


AmBankResearch
The USD gained over major currencies on safe haven flows amid the deepening financial crisis in the EU which has seen global equities and commodities falling sharply. risk aversion and growing contagion fear are expected to keep the safe haven USD well supported for now.

EUR/USD fell to a year-low of 1.2510 on fallout from the crisis of confidence and liquidity in the euro-zone. Despite its hefty decline within a week, ongoing market-wide deleveraging may only afford the EUR/USD a modest recovery, if any, while the GBP remains weighed by domestic political uncertainty and euro-aone issues.

USD/MYR touched a high of 3.3000 this week on global risk aversion. Current jitters in the market may see USD/MYR move within a wider range of 3.2400 - 3.3100. Any improvement in the external environment will give USD/MYR a downward inclination again.
Starbizweek


Foreign Exchange
GBP/USD open 1.5314 close 1.4667
EUR/USD open 1.3340 close 1.2725
USD/JPY open 93.91 close 92.20
USD/CHF open 1.0746 close 1.1127

The dollar and the Japanese yen gained as fears of contagion stemming from the Greek debt woes drove investors to the perceived safety of these currencies. the ECB while holding interest rates unchanged at a record low of 1%, offered no new measures to ease the Greek debt crisis after its policy meeting.

The ECB's reference to take aggressive steps - like buying euro zone government bonds - to address Greece's debt problem disappointed investors who dumped risky assets on deepening fear that Europe's debt problems could snowball into another global crisis. Contagion fears are driving the market as does the ongoing civil unrest in Greece that may make it hard to institute reforms. While Greece's debt problem has muddied the outlook for the euro zone, the US has shown steady improvement.

Encouraging economic data on manufacturing, housing and payrolls in the US reinforced views that the US Federal reserve could raise interest rates from zero this year while Europe's debt woes are likely to keepeuro rates on hold.

Sterling tumbled as a hung parliament looks inevitable with the market spooked by the idea of a coalition or minority government at such an economically difficult time.

USD/MYR open 3.1900 close 3.2720
GBP/USD open 4.8852 close 4.7990
EUR/MYR open 4.2554 close 4.1636
JPY/MYR open 3.3968 close 3.5488
CHF/MYR open 2.9685 close 2.9406

The ringgit lost ground as investors unwound their positions on risk aversion as the Greek debt woes worsened. The local unit hit a low of 3.3000/USD before recovering some lost ground to close the week at 3.2720/USD.
Starbizweek


08 May, 2010 : FOREX: Ringgit Likely To Remain Volatile Next Week
KUALA LUMPUR,  (Bernama) -- Trading is likely to be volatile for the Ringgit next week ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)'s Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Thursday. The central bank will be the first among Asian central banks to meet amid the deepening European soverign crisis. "Investors will keenly watch for potential reaction from other Asian central banks," said Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the Asian Economic Weekly update.

While saying that Greece's debt crisis served as an overhang and potential deterent to aggressive policy tightening in Asia, it added the meeting, will, nevertheless be a close call. "March's inflation rate was surprisingly on the downside but exports exceeded expectations. Still, market jitters continued over Europe. There is a fair chance that Bank Negara will stay on the sidelines this month," the bank added.

At its last meeting, the central bank raised the overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25 basis points to 2.25 per cent.

For the week-just ended, the local unit was lower against the greenback and mixed against other major currencies in line with the bearish stock market, prompted by Greece's debt woes and its impact on euro zone nations. The Ringgit closed at 3.2560/2590 this week against the dollar, down from last Friday's 3.1820/1850. It weakened against the Singapore dollar to 2.3361/3416 from 2.3306/3345 previously but rose against the Japanese yen to 3.4716/4759 from 3.8875/8931 last week. The currency depreciated against the British pound to 4.9009/9061 from 4.8898/8960 but ended higher against the euro at 4.1582/1624 from 4.2362/2408 previously.
BERNAMA


The rates at the local money-changer this morning were GBP 4.84, EUR 4.12, S$2.30, & A$2.88