Malaysian ringgit back near 8-month high helped by inflows

In March alone, the Malaysian currency has rallied around 8% against the greenback, and so far this year, the gain is more than 11.2%.

The Malaysian ringgit is headed for a retest of the recent multi-month high as stronger fundamentals keep the demand for country's assets high.

The USD/MYR pair slipped to 3.8640 from its previous close of 3.8895 on Wednesday, translating to a 0.66% gain for the ringgit.

It compares to the pair's 4 April intra-day low of 3.8598, which was its lowest since mid-August last year.

In March alone, the Malaysian currency has rallied around 8% against the greenback, and so far this year, the gain is more than 11.2%.

Rebound of oil prices and stronger economic fundamentals coupled with easier monetary policy in most investing nations have led to a surge in capital flows to Malaysia.

In 2015, the ringgit had fallen nearly 20% and the reversal so far is significant. Still, many doubt the prospects of a complete reversal of last year's losses as the Malaysian assets are already pricey.

Through the week ended April 1, foreign investors bought a net 5.5bn ringgit ($1.4bn) of Kuala Lumpur stocks this year compared to last year's total outflows of 19.5bn ringgit, as per official estimates.

Last year one of the factors weighed on ringgit like any of its peers was the prospects of a rate hike by the US but the situation has reversed with the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen sounding more cautious about more rate hikes in the world's largest economy.

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