Ringgit higher as traders wait for fresh leads

RINGGIT

THE ringgit closed higher against the US dollar yesterday with traders still awaiting fresh leads on possible debt defaults in the eurozone and the United States.

It firmed to 3.0040/0070 versus the greenback from 3.0125/0155 on Monday.

A dealer said investors were still reluctant to take on more positions for riskier Asian emerging currencies due to external headwinds.

Against the Singapore dollar, the ringgit was higher at 2.4696/4741 from 2.4729/4774, on Monday and appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.8011/8063 from 3.8085/8147, previously.

The ringgit, however, depreciated against the British pound to 4.8494/8551, from 4.8420/8477, previously and weakened versus the euro to 4.2606/2663, from 4.2329/2383, previously.

INTERBANK RATES

SHORT-TERM rates closed stable yesterday as Bank Negara Malaysia continued to mop up excess liquidity from the money market, dealers said.

The overnight rate was pegged at 2.99 per cent while the one, two and three-week rates were pegged at 3.02, 3.04 and 3.06 per cent, respectively.

The liquidity surplus in conventional operations was reduced to RM17.38 billion, from an earlier estimate of RM23.40 billion, while the surplus in the Islamic system was reduced to RM6.11 billion, from RM8.10 billion estimated yesterday morning.

Bank Negara yesterday called for four conventional and three Al-Wadiah tenders along with a repo tender. It also called for late tenders comprising a RM16.5 billion conventional tender and an Al-Wadiah tender for RM6.1 billion, both for one-day money.

KLIBOR

THE three-month Kuala Lumpur Interbank Offered Rate (KLIBOR) futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed untraded yesterday.

The five-year Malaysian Government Securities futures were also untraded. The underlying three-month KLIBOR was unchanged as at Monday's 3.29 per cent. - Bernama