RINGGIT CLOSES LOWER AS STRONG US NFP DATA, SYRIAN CONFLICT SPUR BUYING OF GREENBACK

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 (Bernama) -- The ringgit closed lower against the greenback on Monday as strong US nonfarm payrolls (NFP) data and the fall of the government in Syria spurred buying of the safe haven US dollar.

At 6 pm, the local currency slid to 4.4225/4280 against the US dollar, compared to last Friday’s close of 4.4170/4220.

The US nonfarm payrolls (NFP) report last Friday showed an increase of 227,000 jobs in November, exceeding market estimates of 200,000, but the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2 per cent in November from 4.1 per cent, as expected.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the stronger-than-expected NFP in November showed the US economy is seen to be growing strongly, which might affect the interest rate outlook. "This could raise the risk that the US Federal Reserve may not be keen to ease its monetary policy excessively next year," he told Bernama.

The ringgit traded lower against other major currencies.

It weakened versus the British pound to 5.6466/6537 from 5.6352/6416, depreciated against the euro to 4.6733/6791 from 4.6719/6771 and slid against the Japanese yen to 2.9401/9440 from 2.9329/9364 at last Friday’s close.

The local unit traded mixed against ASEAN currencies.

It declined against the Singapore dollar to 3.3019/3062 versus 3.2963/3002 last Friday and went down versus the Thai baht to 13.0801/1029 from 12.9576/9784 previously.

However, the ringgit was marginally higher against the Philippine peso at 7.62/7.63 from 7.65/7.66 and was unchanged against the Indonesian rupiah at 278.7/279.2.

-- BERNAMA