KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 — The ringgit extended its downtrend against the US dollar today, in tandem with regional peers as the greenback firmed broadly, taking a cue from positive US economic data, a dealer said.
At 6 pm, the local note eased to 4.1810/1850 versus the greenback from 4.1800/1825 at Thursday’s close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid told Bernama that the ringgit ended on a weaker note today as economic data has continued to remain positive in the US, suggesting that earlier interest rate hike narratives would gain further momentum going forward.
ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the US dollar noted that although the initial jobless claims data in the US came in a little higher than expected at 268,000 against the forecast 260,000, that was not enough of a surprise to pull down the greenback.
The greenback continued to be supported by recent economic data readings which showed that retail sales in the US for the month of October were at the highest level ever, confirming that household demand has remained high despite growing inflation, he said.
On another note, he said the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Manufacturing Index, which measures the relative level of general business conditions in Philadelphia, was also positive for the US dollar. The index increased significantly to 39.0 points in November from 23.8 points in the preceding month.
“From a technical point of view, the US dollar is likely to maintain this upward momentum against the ringgit until it reaches the 4.1900 level,” he added.
Elsewhere, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies, except the Japanese yen. The local currency rose vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.6147/6200 from 5.6401/6434, improved against the euro to 4.7249/7295 from 4.7364/7392 and gained against the Singapore dollar to 3.0702/0736 from 3.0781/0801 on Thursday.
However, the ringgit weakened versus the Japanese yen to 3.6675/6714 from 3.6609/6631
— Bernama
