Ringgit Slips Against US Dollar For The Second Consecutive Day

By Zarul Effendi Razali

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 (Bernama) -- The ringgit closed lower against the US dollar today, extending yesterday’s losses as bullish global economic outlook provided support for the greenback.

At 6 pm, the ringgit edged down to 4.5005/5055 versus the US dollar from Wednesday’s close of 4.5000/5050.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid told Bernama that the US Dollar Index (DXY) continued to march higher to 109.147 points post-Federal Open Market Committee minutes which were released last night.

“The US economy’s resilience, along with a hawkish US Federal Reserve, has certainly helped to provide strong support to the US dollar. The next hurdle would be the nonfarm payrolls data which will be released on Friday,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ringgit closed mostly firmer against other major currencies. 

It eased versus the Japanese yen to 2.8466/8500 from Wednesday’s close of 2.8449/8482, but advanced against the British pound to 5.5271/5332 from 5.6020/6083 yesterday and rose vis-a-vis the euro to 4.6382/6434 from 4.6431/6483 previously.

The local note traded higher against ASEAN currencies.

It climbed versus the Thai baht to 12.9937/13.0142 from 12.9949/13.0168 at the previous close and strengthened vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 277.4/277.9 from 277.5/278.0.

The ringgit also appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.2865/2906 from 3.2919/2958 yesterday as well as versus the Philippine peso to 7.69/7.71 from 7.70/7.72 previously.

-- BERNAMA