Ringgit Appreciates Against Major Currencies on Positive Economic Indicators

Kuala Lumpur — The ringgit ended higher against a basket of major currencies yesterday, backed by Malaysia’s latest economic indicators, though it dipped against the US dollar.

By 6:00 PM, the ringgit traded at 4.0805/0845 against the US dollar, down from last Friday’s close of 4.0795/0835. Earlier in the day, the Statistics Department announced that Malaysia’s inflation rate eased to 1.8% in September 2026 from 1.9% the prior month, while total trade value jumped 53.7% to RM396.5 billion from RM258.1 billion a year earlier.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid noted on Bernama that the ringgit held resilient amid external headwinds, particularly following global index provider MSCI’s indication it may downgrade Indonesia’s stock market from ‘emerging market’ to ‘standalone’ status.

‘The potential two-step downgrade from emerging market to standalone status has contributed to the rupiah’s depreciation to over 18,000 per US dollar.’

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