KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit closed higher against a basket of major currencies yesterday, supported by Malaysia’s latest economic data, although it slipped versus the US dollar.
At 6pm, the ringgit dropped to 4.0805/0845 against the greenback from last Friday’s close of 4.0795/0835. Earlier yesterday, the Statistics Department reported that Malaysia’s inflation eased to 1.8% in September 2026 from 1.9% in the previous month, while total trade surged 53.7% to RM396.5bil from RM258.1bil a year earlier.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid told Bernama the ringgit remained resilient in the face of external challenges, especially after global index provider MSCI said it was considering downgrading Indonesia’s stock market from “emerging market” to “standalone market.”
“The possible two-step downgrade from emerging market to stand alone status has led to the depreciation of the rupiah to more than 18,000 rupiah per US dollar.”
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