Investing.com – Most Asian currencies posted further losses on Wednesday as investors remained cautious in anticipation of potential fresh U.S. tariffs under Donald Trump, while the Malaysian ringgit jumped on expectations that the central bank would keep interest rates steady later in the day.

Interest rates are expected to remain at 3.00% for the 10th straight year on Wednesday due to forceful economic growth and controlled inflation, a Reuters poll showed.

The Malaysian ringgit rose 0.6% against the US dollar and the pair fell to 4.4465 ringgit as of 03:07 GMT.

Most other regional currencies came under pressure as the dollar strengthened slightly in anticipation of additional US tariffs.

During Asian trading, the price rose 0.2%, after losing more than 1% earlier in the week. increased by 0.1%.

The Bank of Japan expected to enhance interest rates this week

The Japanese yen pair strengthened by 0.2% ahead of the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) two-day policy meeting that starts on Thursday.

The BOJ is widely expected to raise the rate on Friday. Last week, Reuters reported that the central bank is likely to maintain its commitment to further interest rate increases if the economy maintains its recovery.

“We believe that if the BOJ raises interest rates, the market will increasingly view another rate hike as unlikely at least until the July upper house elections (our estimates are July),” Bank of America analysts said in a recent note

Concerns about tariffs persist after Trump 2.0

Trump said Tuesday he was considering imposing 10% tariffs on Chinese imports starting Feb. 1, after raising the possibility of increasing tariffs on several major economies.

Regional currencies have come under downward pressure, despite expectations that fresh tariffs will be introduced gradually. If these tariffs are implemented full-scale, they could have a significant impact on most Asian currencies, given the region’s bulky dependence on trade with China.

The overseas Chinese yuan pair rose 0.3%, while the onshore pair was largely unchanged on Wednesday.

The Australian dollar pair fell by 0.2%.

The Singapore dollar pair rose 0.3% while the Indian rupee pair rose 0.1%.

The South Korean won pair rose 0.4%. An impeachment hearing is underway in South Korea against President Yoon Suk Yeol over his attempt to impose martial law in the country.

Elsewhere, the Taiwan dollar pair rose 0.5%, while the Philippine peso gained 0.4%.