KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 4 — The ringgit declined against the US dollar on Friday as a recent rally sparked profit-taking activities.

However, the local unit managed to stay at the 4.14 level to end at 4.1470/1520 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.1420/1450.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the sharp appreciation of the ringgit of late could be among the factors that triggered the profit-taking activities.

Meanwhile, AxiCorp chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said investors are reducing position ahead of the release of the US August Non-farm Payroll data tonight.

"There’s a larger focus on employment reports after the Federal Open Market Committee stressed that they are closely monitoring the data and willing to let employment overshoot previous base targets,” he told Bernama.

The August data would provide the latest read on the US recovery.

In July, US employers added 1.76 million jobs, while the unemployment rate declined to 10.2 per cent, down from 11.1 per cent previously.

The ringgit was also traded lower against other major currencies.

It went down against the Singapore dollar to 3.0410/0458 from Thursday’s 3.0351/0380 and was lower against the yen at 3.9042/9100 from 3.8929/8968.

The ringgit depreciated against the British pound to 5.5143/5213 from 5.4981/5037 yesterday and fell against the euro to 4.9150/9214 from 4.8967/9015. — Bernama