KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit closed higher today versus the US dollar as the greenback faced downward pressure due to soft retail sales data in the US, said an analyst.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the weaker-than-expected US retail sales for May have led to a decrease in the US Dollar Index (DXY) to 105.241 points.
It was reported that the US retail sales data for May had grown at a slower pace of 0.1% against the projected 0.2%.
“Such data supports the view that the US Federal Reserve is on track to cut the interest rate this year,” he told Bernama.
At 6pm, the ringgit advanced to 4.7055/4.7075 versus the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.7110/4.7155.
At the close, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local unit depreciated against the Japanese yen to 2.9806/2.9821 from yesterday’s close of 2.9798/2.9828, weakened vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9896/5.9922 from 5.9750/5.9807 and slid versus the euro to 5.0518/5.0540 from 5.0492/5.0541 previously.
The ringgit traded mostly lower against its Asean peers.
It went down vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 287.4/287.7 from 287.0/287.3 at yesterday’s close, inched down versus the Thai baht to 12.8257/12.8354 from 12.7874/12.8048 and declined against the Singapore dollar to 3.4832/3.4850 from 3.4793/3.4829.
However, it was higher against the Philippine peso at 8.01/8.01 from 8.03/8.05. - FMT
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