Selangor Journal
An employee counts US dollar bills at a money exchange in central Cairo, Egypt, March 20, 2019. — Picture by REUTERS

Ringgit weakens against US dollar at the close

KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 — The ringgit closed lower against the US dollar as local market sentiment remained weak due to the United States Federal Reserve’s (Fed) hawkish stance.

At 6pm, the local note weakened to 4.4765/4780 versus the greenback from Thursday’s closing rate of 4.4730/4780.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said Fed officials had warned that higher rates were possible, leading investors to flock to safe-haven assets.

“We also have a strong rebound in China’s services sector where the Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing managers’ index rose to 55.0 in February from 52.9 in January.

“However, it is offset by a higher 10-year US Treasury yield data which is hovering at 4.06 per cent currently, making Malaysia assets unattractive,” he told Bernama.

The ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

The local note slipped against the Japanese yen to 3.2877/2890 from 3.2772/2813 at Thursday’s close and decreased versus the British pound to 5.3642/3660 from 5.3546/3606 previously, but it advanced vis-à-vis the euro to 4.7487/7503 from 4.7539/7592 yesterday.

Meanwhile, the ringgit also traded mostly lower against some Asean currencies.

It eased versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3255/3269 from 3.3210/3252 yesterday, fell against the Thai baht to 12.8998/9105 from 12.8583/8789 previously, and depreciated vis-à-vis the Philippine peso to 8.16/8.17 from 8.13/8.14.

However, the local currency climbed against the Indonesian rupiah to 292.30/292.60 from 292.60/293.20 yesterday.

— Bernama

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