KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 — The ringgit extended its downtrend to close lower against the US dollar today, dampened by weak market sentiment towards the local currency amid declining crude oil prices, dealers said.

At 6pm, the ringgit fell to 4.1400/1450 against the US dollar from 4.1330/1360 at yesterday’s close.

A dealer said fund managers’ risk appetite remained low on worries over the potential exclusion of Malaysian debt from the FTSE World Government Bond Index with a potential rating downgrade.

"Concerns over potentially fresh outflow on Malaysian bonds clouded sentiment in the market, with many investors being reluctant to participate,” he told Bernama.

AmBank (M) Bhd group chief executive officer Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir today expressed confidence that the government would not let the potential downgrade by FTSE Russell and the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund’s pullout from Malaysia’s government bonds affect the country’s economic growth.

Speaking to reporters after the launch of AmBank and Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Bhd’s SME Biz Start Up-i here, he said there would be a lot of engagement and discussions.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against other major currencies.

It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0535/0584 from 3.0551/0583 yesterday, strengthened versus the British pound to 5.3853/3935 from 5.3890/3946, and advanced against the euro to 4.6579/6640 from 4.6736/6774.

The local currency, however, depreciated vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.6991/6039 from 3.6892/6925 yesterday. — Bernama