Selangor Journal
Bundles of banknotes of United States dollars are pictured at a currency exchange shop in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on January 15, 2018. — Picture by REUTERS

Ringgit ends lower against US dollar

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — The ringgit settled lower against the US dollar at the close today as the greenback made a significant appreciation ahead of the two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting starting today.

At 6 pm, the local note stood at 4.2300/2340 against the greenback compared with 4.2275/2295 at Monday’s close.

ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the market is starting to price in a possible acceleration in the tapering process and a 0.75 per cent increase in the interest rate for the US in 2022.

“This has the potential to lift the greenback even more against the ringgit.

“From a technical point of view, if the ringgit manages to break above the 4.2420 level against the US dollar, it could rise to the 4.2900 level in a matter of a few weeks,” he said.

On the other hand, Diniz said it is possible that the ringgit/US dollar would remain sideways over the next few days and that key milestones will only be hit after the year-end holidays.

Meanwhile, the ringgit ended mostly lower against other major currencies, except against the British pound whereby it increased to 5.5929/5982 from 5.5993/6020 previously.

The local note depreciated against the euro to 4.7803/7848 from Monday’s close of 4.7640/7662, fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0912/0946 from 3.0907/0924 and eased versus the Japanese yen to 3.7239/7278 from 3.7178/7199 yesterday.

— Bernama

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