Ringgit Slips Further vs Greenback On Continued Uncertainty About US Tariffs

By Harizah Hanim Mohamed

KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 (Bernama) -- The ringgit slipped further against the greenback on Thursday on continued uncertainty about US tariffs.

At 6 pm, the local note dipped to 4.2465/2510 from 4.2400/2490 on Wednesday’s close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said market participants remained anxious about how US tariffs will impact the global economy.

“US President Donald Trump has indicated that 150-plus countries will be notified about their respective tariff rates, which could be in the region of 10 to 15 per cent. At the same time, Trump also denied news on the possible termination of the current US Federal Reserve (Fed) chairman Jerome Powell. Market participants remain anxious about how the US tariffs will (play out),” he told Bernama.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said the markets were earlier jolted on the news regarding the fate of the Fed chairman, stirring concerns of a direct assault on the US central bank's independence. “That sparked a knee-jerk selloff of the US dollar and a brief bid into gold, but the move quickly reversed after Trump’s (denial of a plan to fire Powell),” he added.

On the ringgit, Innes said that while regional currencies broadly struggled today, the sentiment on the ringgit soured further due to Malaysia’s current trade standing with the United States. “Unlike Indonesia, which recently inked a deal to reduce tariffs and deepen bilateral trade ties, Malaysia has made little visible progress on that front. That comparative stagnation is starting to bite, especially with global investors scrutinising who’s in Washington’s good books heading into a volatile period with the Aug 1 tariff deadline looming,” he added.

At the close, the ringgit traded higher against a basket of major currencies.

It was up versus the euro at 4.9217/9269 from 4.9248/9352 at yesterday’s close but retreated against the British pound to 5.6886/6946 from 5.6786/6907 and declined against the Japanese yen to 2.8548/8580 from 2.8508/8569.

The local note also trended mostly higher against ASEAN currencies.

It inched up against the Indonesian rupiah to 259.8/260.2 from 260.3/260.9 and strengthened versus the Philippine peso to 7.41/7.43 from 7.43/7.45.

The ringgit fell against the Thai baht to 13.0521/0720 from 13.0301/0630 and traded down vis-à-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.3013/3051 from 3.2999/3071.

-- BERNAMA