KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — The ringgit opened weaker against the US dollar today as market participants took note of the political and Covid-19 situation in Malaysia, a dealer said.
At 9am, the local note fell by 95 basis points (bps) to open at 4.1700/1750 against the greenback from 4.1605/1625 at Wednesday’s close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the sentiment towards the ringgit was mainly influenced by the outcome of the Umno supreme council meeting, where the party decided to withdraw its support for the Perikatan Nasional government headed by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The announcement was made by Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at the party’s Supreme Council meeting held virtually last night.
“Such political instability is not favoured by investors because the progress of national economic agendas may be delayed,” he told Bernama, adding that the situation would exert downward pressure on the local note.
As such, he said the ringgit is expected to trade between RM4.16 and RM4.17 against the greenback today.
Meanwhile, Malaysia recorded a total of 7,097 new cases of Covid-19 yesterday, a slight drop from Tuesday’s tally of 7,654.
At the opening bell, the ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.
The local note rose slightly against the Singapore dollar to 3.0877/0917 from 3.0878/0895 at Wednesday’s close and advanced versus the euro to 4.9164/9223 from 4.9210/9234 yesterday.
However, it depreciated vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.7724/7769 from 3.7563/7585 and fell against the British pound to 5.7500/7569 from 5.7452/7480 previously.
— Bernama
