KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — The ringgit ended marginally lower against the US dollar today, moving in a tight range, despite some correction seen on the US dollar Index, a dealer said.
At 6 pm, the local note eased to 4.1800/1825 versus the greenback from 4.1795/1810 at Wednesday’s close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit appeared to remain weak hovering near its resistance level of 4.1862.
“Given the lack of catalyst and amid rising expectations of US interest rate hike, the ringgit is expected to remain soft in the near term. It will hover in the range of RM4.17 to RM4.18 for some time in light of the external uncertainties,” he told Bernama.
ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the US dollar continues to gain ground against the ringgit after the US Building Permits data came in higher than expected, at 1.65 million new houses.
“This is a leading indicator, which could cause an increase in demand for goods and services in the coming months and is pushing the dollar higher.
“In general, the market is also starting to anticipate a possible hike in interest rates in 2022, which could strengthen the US dollar even further in the coming days,” he said.
From a technical point of view, he noted the US dollar versus ringgit pair has just entered an uptrend and could hit the 4.1900 level later this week.
“If it can easily break through above 4.1900, it could hit 4.2400 in a few days,” he added.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was also traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local currency weakened versus the Japanese yen to 3.6609/6631 from 3.6394/6410 on Wednesday and slipped against the euro to 4.7364/7392 from 4.7274/7291.
The ringgit fell vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.6401/6434 from 5.6127/6147 and eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.0781/0801 from 3.0772/0788 yesterday.
— Bernama
