Malaysia’s ringgit firmed in early trade, rising to 4.0730/0800 against the US dollar as the release of Federal Open Market Committee minutes highlighted a clear divide among officials over the interest-rate path, weighing on the greenback. The US Dollar Index (DXY) slipped in response, lifting most Asian currencies, including the ringgit. Markets are also watching Bank Negara Malaysia’s Monetary Policy Committee decision, with the Overnight Policy Rate expected to stay at 2.75%.

Gold rose 0.4% to $4,123.55 per ounce, paring losses after earlier touching its lowest level since July 2, as markets looked ahead to minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June meeting. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they struck U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait in retaliation for U.S. strikes on Iran and the revocation of a licence allowing Iran to sell oil, after three tankers were hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Treasury yields climbed and the dollar index reached a one-week high, while markets priced the probability of a September Fed rate hike at over 63%.

S&P Dow Jones Indices said it has placed Indonesia and Turkey on a watchlist for a potential downgrade from emerging-market status to frontier-market status, citing market transparency and other structural issues. The move echoes a similar review by MSCI on Indonesia and comes as foreign outflows continue. Indonesia’s equity market is down more than 30% for the year so far, or 35% in dollar terms, and the watchlist action could prompt passive funds to rebalance.

Samsung Electronics said its 2024 second-quarter operating profit is expected to reach 89.4 trillion won, up 19 times from a year earlier and above market expectations. The company also projected revenue rising 129% to 171 trillion won. Higher AI-related investment pushed up prices for high-bandwidth memory as well as conventional DRAM and NAND, with Citi Research putting the quarter-on-quarter gains at 44% and 53%. Samsung’s guidance boosted its shares and memory-focused ETFs.

BIMB Research maintained an “overweight” rating on the plantation sector and expects crude palm oil (CPO) prices to stay volatile but firm in 2H26, trading in the RM4,200 to RM4,800 per tonne range and averaging around RM4,500. It sees support from stronger global biodiesel blending mandates, a potentially tighter palm oil supply-demand balance and El Nino risk in 2H26 that could curb output growth. While aggregate 1Q26 core net profit for companies under its coverage fell 7% year-on-year, it expects earnings to improve progressively from 2Q26 onward, according to the research house.

The Malaysian ringgit strengthened in early trade on Friday, rising to 4.0705/0805 against the US dollar from the previous close. The move followed a sharp downside surprise in US June nonfarm payrolls, which rose by 57,000 versus a 114,000 consensus, alongside downward revisions to April and May. The ringgit also gained against the British pound, Japanese yen, euro, Philippine peso, Indonesian rupiah, Thai baht and Singapore dollar.

The ringgit has weakened as the US dollar strengthened, with USD/MYR rising from a late-February low of RM3.8895 to RM4.1377 on June 24, amid uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s policy path under new chairman Kevin Maxwell Warsh. Malaysia’s fundamentals have provided support, including a current account surplus that widened to 3% of GDP and a 70.5% year-on-year jump in electrical and electronics exports in May, alongside AI data-centre investment. Several institutions have kept their year-end USD/MYR targets in the RM3.95–RM4 range.

The dollar index (DXY) rose to 101.69 on Wednesday, its highest level in 13 months. Demand was supported by safe-haven buying tied to ongoing selling in U.S. technology stocks. Expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike also strengthened, with CME FedWatch showing the implied odds for July rising to 36% from 9% a week earlier and September above 70%. The euro, pound, Australian dollar and yen weakened, with the yen sliding to 161.69 near its lowest level since 1986.

Markets’ concerns about a Middle East supply shock eased after the United States said it would waive some Iran sanctions and said the Strait of Hormuz remained open, sending Brent down 1.22% to $76.95 a barrel. Traders also sharply raised expectations for Federal Reserve tightening, with the implied odds of at least two 25-basis-point hikes this year rising to 54% from 15.2%. Risk assets sold off globally, with the MSCI Asia-Pacific index down 2.9% and South Korea’s Kospi plunging 8.1%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 3%, while the Nasdaq slipped 1.3% and the S&P 500 lost 0.4%.