Ringgit ends lower amid tariff concerns

 

KUALA LUMPUR: 

The ringgit weakened against the US dollar today, alongside other Asean currencies, as traders and investors are anxious about the reciprocal tariffs the US government will impose on April 2.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said Asean currencies were fairly weaker against the US dollar with the Japanese yen depreciating to 150.53 yen per US dollar, falling by 0.41%, followed by the Singapore dollar which fell 0.28% to S$1.3399 per US dollar.

He said the Indonesia rupiah turned out to be the best-performing currency, rising by 0.20% to 16,562 per US dollar possibly due to the intervention by the Bank of Indonesia as the currency hit its lowest point since June 1998 on Monday.

Afzanizam said the ringgit was the second-best performing Asean currency, appreciating by 0.06% to RM4.4335.

“Thus far, the immediate concern would be on the auto sector in view of the 25% tariff levied on key exporting countries to the US such as Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Germany,” he told Bernama.

At 6pm, the local note eased to 4.4300/4.4340 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.4280/4.4315.

The ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

It appreciated against the euro to 4.7720/4.7763 from 4.7805/4.7842 at yesterday’s close, edged up against the Japanese yen to 2.9351/2.9380 from 2.9498/2.9524, but decreased against the British pound to 5.7236/5.7287 from 5.7161/5.7206.

The local note was mostly lower against Asean currencies.

It fell against the Philippine peso to 7.72/7.73 from 7.67/7.68, weakened against the Thai baht to 13.0678/13.0854 from 13.0277/13.0453, and slid against the Indonesian rupiah to 267.4/267.8 from 266.9/267.2.

However, the ringgit advanced against the Singapore dollar to 3.3060/3.3094 from 3.3104/3.3133 at the previous close. - FMT