Ringgit likely to trade within 3.06-3.08

The movement of the ringgit against the greenback next week will be largely affected by two major events in Australia and the United States, dealers said.

A dealer said traders are awaiting The Reserve Bank of Australia's monetary policy meeting on Tuesday next week before making buying decisions and this will have an impact on the movement of the local unit.

According to him, traders are also not expected to buy the greenback until Friday, April 6 when the monthly nonfarm payroll figures, the US government's authoritative monthly measure of the job market, are released.

"This may lead to an appreciation in the ringgit," he said.

With such developments, he foresees the local unit to be traded in the range of 3.06 to 3.08 against the greenback next week.

Another dealer said the ringgit, which had recorded its biggest gain at 3.0555 to the greenback last Tuesday, seems to be attracting investors as funds are flowing into the Asian region and this has supported its currencies.

For the week just-ended, the ringgit was traded in the range of 3.05 to 3.07, recording its highest gain for the week at 3.0555/0585 on Tuesday on speculation that the US Federal Reserve would embark on a third round of quantitative easing, or QE3.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the ringgit appreciated against the US dollar to 3.0630/0660 from 3.0755/0785 at the close on the previous Friday and strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 2.4346/4374 from 2.4370/4415 previously.

It eased against the British pound to 4.8999/8053 from 4.8814/8874 the previous week and depreciated against the euro to 4.0857/0910 from 4.0803/0849.

The local unit slipped against the yen to 3.7285/7331 from 3.7198/7252 previously. -- Bernama