Ringgit strengthens against US dollar, court pauses block on Trump-era tariffs

The ringgit opened stronger against the US dollar today, boosted by improved investor confidence in emerging market currencies after a US court temporarily halted a decision to block most Trump-era import tariffs, an analyst said.

At 8am, the local note surged to 4.2180/2485 versus the greenback from Thursday's close of 4.2390/2475.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US Dollar Index (DXY) fell below the 100-point mark to 99.278 points after the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted a temporary reprieve from a US Court of International Trade ruling that would have blocked most Trump-era import tariffs on Wednesday (US time).

Additionally, he said US economic data look weaker with Initial Jobless Claims rising more than expected to 240,000 last week against consensus estimates of 229,000 while the Continuous Jobless Claims accelerated to 1.91 million for the week ending May 17 from 1.89 million in the prior week.

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