Ringgit closes lower on lack of buying interest

 

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit ended lower against the US dollar today on a lack of buying interest as the US Dollar Index (DXY) rebounded after recent losses by the greenback, said analysts.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the US dollar/ringgit dropped 0.17% from the previous day’s level and, similarly, the ringgit was weaker against other major currencies.

“It appears that there have been some profit-taking activities as the ringgit has been on the rise early this month.

“This week, US Federal Reserve (Fed) speakers are lining up to share their views on the state of the economy and, generally speaking, the higher for longer narratives are pretty much intact thus far,” he told Bernama.

Afzanizam said that from the technical standpoint, the ringgit was already in an overbought position which may have led traders to offload their position to take some profit.

At 6pm, the ringgit depreciated to 4.6950/4.6985 versus the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.6850/4.6875.

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

The local unit appreciated versus the Japanese yen at 3.0071/3.0095 from yesterday’s closing of 3.0084/3.0104, but fell against the euro to 5.1044/5.1082 from 5.0921/5.0948 and slid vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9730/5.9774 from 5.9518/5.9550 previously.

The local curency traded mixed against Asean currencies, increasing against the Philippine peso to 8.06/8.07 from 8.09/8.10 as well as the Thai baht to 12.9264/12.9407 from 12.9987/13.0100 previously.

However, it depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.4863/3.4892 from 3.4809/3.4831 at yesterday’s close and slipped versus the Indonesian rupiah to 293.4/293.8 from 293.1/293.5 yesterday. - FMT