KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 — The ringgit opened marginally lower against the US dollar on Friday as the greenback had strengthened after the initial United States (US) economic data indicated that its economy is still on the right track amid global uncertainties, an analyst said.
At 9.03am, the local currency eased to 4.4830/4860 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.4820/4840.
OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya said the US dollar hit a fresh record high on safe-haven flows due to global economic weakness and as the country’s resilient economy paves the way for the Federal Reserve (Fed) to remain aggressive in its rate hikes.
“The US economy is still looking good and that should allow the Fed to remain aggressive with policy tightening over the coming months,” he told Bernama.
Notably, the ringgit’s decline was cushioned by the rise in the crude oil price, where the oil benchmark Brent crude increased by 1.28 per cent to US$93.54 per barrel at press time.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
The local unit appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.1987/2011 from yesterday’s close of 3.2028/2047 and rose against the British pound to 5.1783/1818 from 5.1964/1987.
It improved vis-a-vis the euro to 4.4642/4672 from 4.4923/4943 on Thursday, and gained against the Japanese yen to 3.2001/2027 from 3.2205/2222 previously.
— Bernama
