KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit extended yesterday’s losses against the US dollar at the close on Thursday on strengthening of the greenback after the release of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting minutes yesterday.
At 6pm, the local currency was traded at 4.1445/1475 against the greenback from Wednesday’s close of 4.1360/1400.
ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the Fed’s latest meeting signalled the possibility of a tighter monetary policy in the United States as the country’s economy indicated an upward progress.
“Investors will keep an eye out for the US initial jobless claims data, due on Thursday, for its impact on the US dollar. A lower-than-expected number could accelerate the initiated uptrend in the US dollar,” Diniz said.
Meanwhile, SPI Asset Management global managing partner Stephen Innes told Bernama that the ringgit continued to drift away as the greenback’s strength pressured the ringgit at the opening.
“There seems to be a lot of turbulence for the ringgit to navigate. More-hawkish-than-expected Fed policy, financial stability risks, and COVID-19 variants along with vaccine side effects present the clearest downside risks,” he added.
Meanwhile, the local note was traded mostly lower against other major currencies.
The ringgit eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.1080/1107 from 3.1039/1086 on Wednesday, but slightly improved vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.8520/8579 from 5.8586/8651 previously.
The local currency fell against the euro to 5.0505/0550 from 5.0496/0562 yesterday and declined against the yen to 3.8030/8068 from 3.7882/7929. – Bernama
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