KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13 — The ringgit opened flat against the US dollar today as investors stayed on the sidelines awaiting fresh catalysts, said an analyst.

At 8am, the ringgit stood at 4.4500/4620 versus the greenback compared with yesterday’s close of 4.4500/4580.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the financial markets were anxious about geopolitical risks in the Middle East, with Brent crude oil hitting above US$80 per barrel while US Treasury yields on a declining trend last night.

He said the US Dollar Index (DXY) remained stable at around 103 points while the US dollar-yen was hovering around €147 (RM4.44).

“Locally, the indication for the upcoming second quarter of 2024 (2Q 2024) gross domestic product (GDP) looks positive thus far, with data on the construction sector showing that the industries were lively during the June quarter.

“All subsectors in the construction sector, namely the residential, non-residential, civil engineering and special trade activities, recorded growth,” he told Bernama.

Yesterday, the Department of Statistics Malaysia announced that the work done value of the country’s construction sector soared by 20.2 per cent in 2Q 2024 to RM38.9 billion.

Malaysia’s 2Q GDP data will be announced on Friday.

Given the lack of fresh catalysts, the ringgit against US dollar is expected to trade at the prevailing level of around RM4.45, Mohd Afzanizam said.

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

It fell versus the euro to 4.8665/8796 from 4.8630/8717 at yesterday’s close, eased against the Japanese yen to 3.0262/0345 from 3.0206/0263 yesterday, and depreciated vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.6827/6980 from 5.6760/6862 previously.

The local note was mainly flat or little changed against Asean currencies.

It slipped versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3603/3706 from 3.3600/3663 at yesterday’s close and declined vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 12.6748/7184 from 12.6130/6414 previously.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was flat against the Indonesian rupiah and the Philippine peso at 278.8/279.7 and 7.76/7.79, respectively. — Bernama