KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 4): AmBank Research expects the ringgit (MYR) to trade between its support level of 4.1201 and 4.1274 and resistance at 4.1497 and 4.1600.

In his AmBankFXDaily note today, AmBank group chief economist and head of research Dr Anthony Dass said the MYR weakened by 0.16% to 4.144 against the dollar due to global risk-off sentiment.

Dass, who is also adjunct professor in economics at University of New England, Sydney, Australia, said the local bourse closed higher by 0.46% to 1,675.8 as investors embarked on bargain hunting.

He said as for the local govvies, both 5- and 7-year Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) rose 1.0 basis points (bps) and 0.5bps to 3.740% and 3.975% respectively while 3-year MGS slipped 0.5bps to 3.575%.

“But the 10-year MGS remained unchanged on 4.070%. Meanwhile, the oil market ended on a higher note as OPEC is following through on its production cuts with potentially more cuts in the pipeline.

“The Brent closed 1.89% higher to US$55.95/bbl while WTI rose 1.18% to US$47.09/bbl.

“The MYR depreciated against most of its regional peers. It weakened by 0.31% to 7.776 against Thai Baht, slipped 0.10% to 12.69 against the peso and dropped 0.44% to 3479.3 against the rupiah. However, it appreciated 0.10% to 3.03 against SGD,” he said.