Volatility Dynamics in Foreign Exchange Rates : Further Evidence from the Malaysian Ringgit and Singapore Dollar

The evolution of volatility and correlation patterns of the Malaysian ringgit and the Singapore dollar are analyzed in this paper. Our approach can simultaneously capture the empirical regularities of persistent and asymmetric effects in volatility and time-varying correlations of financial time series. Consistent with the results of Tse and Tsui (1997), there is only some weak support for asymmetric volatility in the case of the Malaysian ringgit when the two currencies are measured against the US dollar. However, there is strong evidence that depreciation shocks have a greater impact on future volatility levels compared with appreciation shocks of the same magnitude when both currencies measured against the yen. Moreover, evidence of time-varying correlation is highly significant when both currencies are measured against the yen. Regardless of the choice of the numeraire currency and the volatility models, shocks to exchange rate volatility are found to be significantly persistent.