KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 30): The ringgit ended the month of September slightly higher, rebounding from its recent downtrend amid mixed sentiments in the market, an analyst said.

At 6pm on Friday (Sept 30), the local currency improved by 20 basis points to 4.6360/6390 against the greenback, from Thursday’s closing of 4.6380/6425.

The analyst said the buying support for the ringgit is on the expectation that the government will address the country’s fiscal deficit in the Budget 2023 announcement next week, with the government possibly targeting a fiscal deficit of 4.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) next year, versus 5.5% this year.

“The steady benchmark crude oil price at US$89.23 per barrel, rising 0.84%, also supported the ringgit performance for today,” the analyst said.

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

The local note slipped against the British pound to 5.1728/1762 from 5.0392/0441 on Thursday, and declined versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2343/2368 from 3.2228/2264.

It depreciated against the Japanese yen at 3.2103/2126 from 3.2050/2084 at Thursday’s close, and fell vis-a-vis the euro to 4.5428/5458 from Thursday’s 4.4951/4995.