KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 — The ringgit extended its downtrend against the US dollar to open lower today as strong demand for the greenback continues to uplift the currency, an analyst said.
At 9 am, the local note weakened to 4.1860/1895 versus the greenback from 4.1850/1880 at yesterday’s close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar received a further boost overnight after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was nominated for a second four-year term.
“This would mean continuity in policy making. Meanwhile, to a large degree, narratives of higher interest rate remain intact and it could happen sooner than expected,” he told Bernama.
He said the rise of Covid-19 cases in Europe also helped increase the value of the US dollar as risk-off sentiment became prevalent.
“The US dollar to the ringgit exchange rate has essentially surpassed the resistance level of RM4.1862 and the next resistant level would be at RM4.245.
“As such, the ringgit could trade within a band of RM4.18 to RM4.19 today,” said Mohd Afzanizam.
Meanwhile, at opening, the local note was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0669/0699 from 3.0734/0758 at Monday’s close and inched up against the euro to 4.7051/7090 from 4.7207/7241.
The ringgit gained versus the British pound to 5.6097/6143 from 5.6196/6236 yesterday and added vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.6467/6500 from 3.6669/6698.
— Bernama
