Ringgit Opens Lower Against US Dollar On Cautious Sentiment

By Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid and Karina Imran

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 (Bernama) -- The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar as market sentiment remained cautious following the latest US inflation data and ongoing policy uncertainties. 

At 8 am, the ringgit declined to 4.4500/4730 against the greenback compared to Friday's close of 4.4375/4420.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said US President Donald Trump's administration will impose 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from all countries.   

"The move could heighten uncertainties in the currency market, with the US dollar likely to remain in high demand," he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, the Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) rose by a lower-than-expected 143,000 in January versus consensus estimates of 170,000.

However, the December’s NFP were revised up from 256,000 to 307,000 while the unemployment rate fell further to 4.0 per cent in January from 4.1 per cent in the preceding month, suggesting that the US labour market is still resilient. 

Back home, the ringgit was traded higher against other major currencies but fell versus the Japanese yen to 2.9303/9457 from 2.9217/9249 on Friday. 

It gained against the euro to 4.5884/6121 from 4.6101/6148 previously and appreciated vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.5140/5425 from 5.5278/5334.  

The local note was traded mixed against ASEAN currencies.  

It was higher against the Singapore dollar at 3.2791/2965 from 3.2866/2901 at the close on Friday, and rose against the Thai baht to 13.1214/2009 from 13.1853/2041.       

The ringgit, however, declined against the Indonesian rupiah to 273.2/274.8 from 272.4/272.9 and weakened against the Philippine peso to 7.67/7.71 from Friday’s close of 7.65/7.66. 

-- BERNAMA