KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — The ringgit ended easier against the US dollar today, bucking the regional trend impacted by the slide in oil prices and moderating trade data released at noon, said an analyst.
At 6pm, the local note stood at 4.5400/5465 against the greenback compared with 4.5375/5420 at Tuesday’s close.
The market was closed on Wednesday for the Awal Muharram holiday.
A dealer said most Asian currencies rose on Thursday as the greenback took a breather, snapping its two-day recovery, while the Chinese yuan jumped amid reports of government intervention to support the battered currency.
Also weighing on local currency sentiment is the slip in oil prices as the strength in the US dollar index weighed on oil prices, he noted.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes told Bernama that despite the ringgit’s movement remaining highly influenced by the yuan’s performance, the ringgit closed a touch weaker despite a stronger Chinese yuan as Malaysia’s trade contracted on the back of fading base effects.
“The market saw China step up its support for its currency with a stronger-than-expected reference rate and a change to its capital curbs to lure inflows.
“The type of intervention the People’s Bank of China is doing is called a counter-cyclical effect, an attempt to ward off what they consider as excessive speculation that has been weakening the yuan this week,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies at today’s close.
It improved vis-à-vis the euro to 5.0902/0975 from 5.1038/1088 at Tuesday’s close, rose against the British pound to 5.8630/8714 from 5.9450/9509 and gained versus the Japanese yen to 3.2540/2589 from 3.2835/2870 previously.
The local note traded mixed against other Asean currencies.
The ringgit advanced vis-à-vis the Philippine peso to 8.32/8.34 from 8.34/8.35 on Tuesday and increased versus the Singapore dollar to 3.4324/4378 from 3.4346/4383 previously.
It fell against the Thai baht to 13.3525/3780 from 13.2586/2768 and slid against the Indonesian rupiah to 302.9/303.5 from 302.5/302.9 on Tuesday.
— Bernama
