Malaysia’s ringgit rose, leading gains in Asia, after weak U.S. jobs data supported the case for the Federal Reserve to hold off from raising interest rates.
Employers in the U.S. added 126,000 workers in March, the fewest since December 2013, according to an April 3 report that also showed downward revisions to previous months’ figures. The data spurred declines in the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index and 10-year U.S. Treasury yields. Foreign funds hold 29 percent of Malaysian sovereign debt, compared with 18 percent of Thai notes, making the nation vulnerable to increases in U.S. rates that reduce the appeal of emerging-market assets.
