Ringgit Firms Up In Early Trade, Malaysia Tweaks Covid Rules For Lunar New Year

Spot USD/MYR slipped at the re-open but has failed to return into the descending channel drawn off the 2020 peak. The rate has moved above its 50-DMA & the aforementioned channel top last week and now trades -70 pips at MYR4.0627.

• Malaysia revised its Covid-19 guidelines for the Chinese Lunar New Year in response to criticisms that the initial rules had been too restrictive. The gov't allowed for traditional reunion dinners involving a maximum of 15 immediate family members living within a 10km radius.
• Elsewhere, the gov't launched an initiative to move migrant workers to near-empty hotels across the country after concluding that conditions in migrant dormitories have been key sources of fresh infections.
• Selangor remains atop Malaysia's Covid-19 case list, contributing 43% of new cases on Sunday.
• A fall through the broken channel top at MYR4.0582 & the 50-DMA at MYR4.0507 would shift focus to the shorter-term channel floor at MYR4.0376. Conversely, a break above Jan 12 high/Feb 5 high/shorter-term channel top at MYR4.0760/67/72 would reignite bullish momentum, exposing Deb 7 high of MYR4.0885.
• Malaysian industrial output comes out alongside m'fing sales in a few hours' time. Quarterly GDP data & current account balance are due Thursday.