Ringgit closes lower despite weaker US Nonfarm Payroll data

 

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit trimmed earlier gains to end slightly lower against the US dollar today despite the weaker-than-expected US Nonfarm Payroll (NFP) data released last Friday, said an economist.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar/ringgit rate had started low at RM4.7330 in the early morning session but gradually depreciated towards RM4.7413 later in the afternoon session.

“There was a slight uptick in the US Dollar Index (DXY) to 105.077 points but only marginally because the dollar was weaker against the euro and pound sterling.

“The DXY has six components and among them are the euro and pound sterling,” he told Bernama.

In a nutshell, he said markets are still pretty much bullish on the US dollar despite the US jobs data last Friday.

At 6pm, the ringgit eased to 4.7380/4.7405 versus the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.7370/4.7400.

At the close, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

It rose versus the Japanese yen to 3.0806/3.0825 from Friday’s close of 3.0947/3.0968 but went down vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9604/5.9635 from 5.9487/5.9525 earlier, and slipped against the euro to 5.1033/5.1060 from 5.0890/5.0922 previously.

The local note also traded lower against Asean currencies.

Against the Thai baht, the ringgit fell to 12.8950/12.9070 from Friday’s 12.8723/12.8850, inched down versus the Singapore dollar to 3.5086/3.5107 from 3.5027/3.5054, eased vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 295.6/295.9 from 294.4/294.8 and was lower against the Philippine peso to 8.28/8.29 from 8.25/8.27 previously. - FMT