KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 — The ringgit weakened further against the US dollar at the opening on Friday, spurred by buying interest for the greenback as it continued to rally following high Covid-19 vaccination rates and concerns over an interest rate increase by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), said a dealer.
The local unit fell to 4.0630/0675 against the dollar from Thursday’s close of 4.0570/0600.
Axi chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said as investors optimism continued on the US economic growth, there is a likelihood of investments flows exiting the Asian market.
“Ultimately, higher Chinese interest rates by PBoC will dampen credit impulses and slow growth, much the detriment of local trading partners like the ringgit,” said Innes.
However, he said the better oil prices would cushion the downward impact for the ringgit as oil prices are set to outperform most market sentiments in the first quarter of this year.
Meanwhile, the local unit was traded mixed against other major currencies.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0378/0423 from Thursday’s 3.0374/0410 but improved against the yen to 3.8515/8562 from 3.8850/8582 on Thursday.
The local currency was down against the British pound to 5.5614/5680 from 5.5106/5163 but rose vis-a-vis the euro to 4.8618/8688 from 4.8623/8671 previously.
— Bernama
