KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — The ringgit ended lower against the US dollar for the third consecutive day today, ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting tomorrow.
At 6pm, the local currency fell to 4.4970/4500 against the greenback from Monday’s close of 4.4900/4940.
A dealer said trading was generally thin as most investors remained on the sidelines ahead of the MPC meeting on September 7 and September 8.
“The dollar is stronger and there was also some dollar short-covering in the market,” he said.
The market expects BNM to hike its overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25 basis points to 2.5 per cent — its third consecutive rate hike this year.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of major currencies, except for the Japanese yen, wherein it rose to 3.1741/1762 from 3.1966/1997 yesterday.
The local unit depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.2021/2044 from Monday’s close of 3.1978/2011, fell against the British pound to 5.2156/2191 from 5.1689/1735 and decreased against the euro to 4.4759/4788 from 4.4590/4630 yesterday.
— Bernama
