Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said on the external front, the US data continues to suggest that the economy is cooling with retail sales falling 0.1% month-on-month in October, the first decline since March.
Despite that, the short-term rates were higher with the two-year US Treasury yield rising eight basis points to 4.91% as markets are still wary of the future path of the federal funds rate.
Meanwhile, Japan’s third quarter 2023 gross domestic product contracted 0.5% quarter-on-quarter, justifying the move by the Bank of Japan to maintain its ultra loose monetary policy.
The European consumer price index (CPI) steadily moderated to 4% year-on-year in October from 4.9% previously, implying the European Central Bank rates are also nearing their peak.
At 9.20am, the ringgit was traded lower at 4.69600/4.7015 against the greenback from Wednesday’s close of 4.6695/4.6755.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded lower versus a basket of major currencies.
It slightly weakened against the Japanese yen to 3.1058/3.1097 from 3.1049/3.1091 at Wednesday’s close, declined against the euro to 5.0933/5.0992 from 5.0669/5.0734 previously, and fell vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.8268/5.8336 from 5.8187/5.8261.
The local currency also traded lower against other Asean currencies.
It depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.4757/3.4800 from 3.4615/3.4662 on Wednesday and was lower against the Philippine peso at 8.40/8.42 from 8.36/8.38 previously.
The ringgit dropped against the Thai baht to 13.1799/13.2005 from 13.1713/13.1935 yesterday and declined vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 302.2/302.8 from 300.5/301.1. - FMT
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