The US Conference Board will publish its latest survey on the consumer confidence index for May, says analyst.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said it appeared that traders might have realised their gains in the currency markets after the recent steep appreciation of emerging currencies.
“Nonetheless, the immediate (global) macroeconomic picture is pretty much unchanged, where sentiments among businesses and consumers are still cautious,” he told Bernama, noting that other emerging market currencies also depreciated against the US dollar as the US Dollar Index (DXY) rose to 99.018 points.
“The US Conference Board will be publishing their latest survey on the consumer confidence index for May, with the latest data in April seeing a persistent fall to 86 points, representing the fifth consecutive month of decline since December last year.
“The consensus (view is for) a slight improvement to 87.1 points. Perhaps lower gasoline prices might have lent some support to consumers during May, although such support is expected to be transitory,” he added.
At 6pm, the local currency fell to 4.2345/4.2430 versus the US dollar from yesterday’s close of 4.2155/4.2220.
The ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies at the close.
It rose against the Japanese yen to 2.9425/2.9486 from yesterday’s close of 2.9506/2.9553, but fell vis-à-vis the euro to 4.8053/4.8150 from 4.7972/4.8046 and depreciated against the British pound to 5.7352/5.7467 from 5.7175/5.7263.
The local currency also traded lower against its Asean peers.
It dropped against the Singapore dollar to 3.2894/3.2963 from 3.2826/3.2879 yesterday, and inched lower against the Thai baht to 12.9365/12.9676 from 12.9231/12.9466.
The ringgit edged lower vis-à-vis the Philippine peso to 7.62/7.64 from 7.60/7.62 and weakened versus the Indonesian rupiah to 259.9/260.6 from 259.4/259.9. - FMT
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