Ringgit Retreats After Three Days Of Gains

By Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 (Bernama) -- The ringgit closed lower on Friday, snapping three consecutive days of gains amid profit-taking activities.

At 6 pm, the local currency dropped to 4.4660/4710 against the greenback, compared with Thursday’s close of 4.4610/4650.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit was generally weak today on account of a strong US dollar with the US Dollar Index (DXY) surpassing 107 points.

“Concerns over geopolitics, President-elect Donald Trump 2.0 policies and the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate outlook all bode well for the greenback to stay higher,” he told Bernama.

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

It rose against the British pound to 5.5870/5932 from 5.6342/6393 at the close on Thursday and gained against the euro to 4.6455/6507 from 4.6907/6949 yesterday. 

But it declined against the Japanese yen to 2.8906/8942 from 2.8892/8920 previously. 

The local unit traded mostly lower against ASEAN currencies. 

It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.3101/3141 from 3.3189/3222, but depreciated against the Thai baht to 12.9068/9276 from 12.8748/8923 at Thursday’s close, fell against the Philippine peso at 7.58/7.59 from 7.56/7.57 and eased vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah at 281.2/281.7 from 279.9/280.4. 

-- BERNAMA