Ringgit Retreats Against US Dollar Amid 'Trump Trade', China Damp Squib

By Abdul Hamid A Rahman

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 (Bernama) -- The ringgit closed lower against the US dollar on Thursday as the “Trump trade” lifted the greenback while China’s stimulus plans continued to fail to ignite excitement. 

At 6 pm, the local note depreciated to 4.3075/3105 versus the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.2945/2995.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the so-called “Trump trade,” spurred by prediction markets showing Republican candidate Donald Trump leading the US presidential race, caused Asian currencies, including the ringgit, to fluctuate over the past 24 hours.

“With the former US president’s campaign gaining momentum, foreign exchange traders are hedging against his tough stance on tariffs. They believe that a Trump victory could create challenges for foreign economies while making the dollar more attractive.

“Donald Trump has promised that under his leadership, the dollar’s reserve status would be 'stronger than ever,' and the market seems to be reacting to this belief,” he told Bernama.

Additionally, Innes said that China's policymakers also failed to instil confidence in their briefing this morning, where their plans to address the country’s declining property market fell short of expectations.

“This created a wave of negative sentiment across Asia, weakening most regional currencies, including the ringgit, alongside a softer yuan,” he added.

At the close, the ringgit was mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

It edged up against the euro to 4.6771/6803 from 4.6780/6834 at Wednesday’s close but slipped against the British pound to 5.5967/6006 from 5.5889/5954. The local note dropped vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 2.8790/8812 from 2.8772/8807 previously.

The ringgit also traded mostly lower versus ASEAN currencies.

It retreated against the Singapore dollar to 3.2782/2807 from 3.2800/2841, dropped versus the Philippine peso to 7.44/7.46 from 7.43/7.45 and eased against the Thai baht to 12.9619/9776 from 12.9329/9546. It weakened against the Indonesian rupiah to 277.7/278.1 from 276.8/277.3.

-- BERNAMA