Ringgit Eases Against Greenback On Profit-Taking After Recent Gains

By Danni Haizal Danial Donald

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 (Bernama) -- The ringgit ended lower against the US dollar on Tuesday as cautious traders took profit after recent gains amid continued uncertainty in the global economic outlook.

At 6 pm, the local note fell to 4.2345/2430 versus the US dollar from Monday’s close of 4.2155/2220.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said it appeared that traders might have realised their gains in the currency markets after the recent steep appreciation of emerging currencies.

“Nonetheless, the immediate (global) macroeconomic picture is pretty much unchanged, where sentiments among businesses and consumers are still cautious,” he told Bernama, noting that other emerging market currencies also depreciated against the American dollar as the US Dollar Index (DXY) rose to 99.018 points.

“The US Conference Board will be publishing their latest survey on the consumer confidence index for May, with the latest data in April seeing a persistent fall to 86 points, representing the fifth consecutive month of decline since December last year.

“The consensus (view is for) a slight improvement to 87.1 points. Perhaps lower gasoline prices might have lent some support to consumers during May, although such support is expected to be transitory,” he added.

The ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies at the close.

It rose against the Japanese yen to 2.9425/9486 from Monday's close of 2.9506/9553, but fell vis-à-vis the euro to 4.8053/8150 from 4.7972/8046 and depreciated against the British pound to 5.7352/7467  from 5.7175/7263.

The local note also traded lower against its ASEAN peers.

It dropped against the Singapore dollar to 3.2894/2963 from 3.2826/2879 on Monday, and inched lower against the Thai baht to 12.9365/9676 from 12.9231/9466.

The ringgit edged lower  vis-à-vis the Philippine peso to 7.62/7.64 from 7.60/7.62 and weakened versus  the Indonesian rupiah to 259.9/260.6 from 259.4/259.9.

-- BERNAMA