KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): The ringgit opened marginally higher against the US dollar on Wednesday (Jan 11), as the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) stance on its monetary policy signalled renewed buying interest in the greenback, an analyst said. 

At 9.13am, the local note had risen slightly to 4.3710/3760 against the greenback, from Tuesday’s close at 4.3715/3755.

ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said recent statements by Fed chairman Jerome Powell showed that the US central bank remained committed to keeping inflation under control, even if that should require measures that might be considered unpopular.

“This could signal that US monetary policy may remain tight for some time to come, which could give the US dollar renewed strength over the next few days.

“From a technical point of view, the US dollar-ringgit pair is in a support region on the daily chart, and the relative strength index shows a reading of 31 — a reading below 30 is considered oversold.

“If the price manages to break above 4.4060, it is possible that it will enter an uptrend over the next few days,” he told Bernama. 

Meanwhile, the ringgit traded better against a basket of major currencies.

It appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.2805/2848 from 3.2856/2891 at Tuesday’s close, and strengthened vis-a-vis the yen to 3.3009/3049 from 3.3160/3196 previously.

The local currency gained versus the pound to 5.3086/3147 from 5.3258/3307, and improved against the euro to 4.6905/6959 from 4.6972/7015.