Ringgit Retreats To Close Lower As US Tariff Court Ruling Boosts Greenback

By Zufazlin Baharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 (Bernama) -- The ringgit retreated to close lower against the greenback on Thursday as the American dollar rallied after a US trade court blocked most of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports into the country.

At 6 pm, the local note fell to 4.2390/2475 versus the US dollar from Wednesday’s close of 4.2215/2275.

The US Court of International Trade on Wednesday ruled that Trump was not authorised to invoke emergency economic powers legislation to impose the sweeping global tariffs announced in April.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said markets welcomed the US court decision against Trump, seeing it as potentially good news for the American economy.

“The initial market read is that this could be a net positive for US growth since many had expected the tariffs to weigh on consumption. The sentiment also helped fuel a rally in US equities with Nvidia’s blowout earnings boosting investor confidence, leading more people to take risks, stoking demand for US dollars,” he told Bernama.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes, which indicated a likely delay in interest rate cuts, also weighed on the ringgit. According to Bloomberg, the FOMC meeting minutes of May 6-7 suggested that policymakers agreed on a cautious approach to monetary policy amid US trade and fiscal uncertainties.

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

It rose against the Japanese yen to 2.9188/9249 from Wednesday's close of 2.9271/9315 and gained vis-à-vis the euro to 4.7803/7899 from 4.7838/7906.

However, it depreciated against the British pound to 5.7091/7205 from 5.7028/7109 previously.

The local note was traded mixed against its ASEAN peers.

It weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.2853/2921 from 3.2776/2825 on Wednesday and dropped versus the Indonesian rupiah to 259.9/260.5 from 259.0/259.5 previously.

It inched up against the Thai baht to 12.9321/9647 from 2.9355/9614 and was flat vis-à-vis the Philippine peso at 7.60/7.62 from 7.60/7.62.

-- BERNAMA