KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 — The ringgit ended higher against the US dollar as a bit of clarity over US Federal Reserve’s tapering plan and Evergrande’s assurance lifted market sentiment.

At 6pm, the local note appreciated to 4.1800/1825 from 4.1910/1950 at yesterday’s close.

Bank Islam chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said there seemed to be better visibility on the timing of the tapering, likely to be this year.

"And the recent dot plots also indicated that the US interest rate could be raised next year in tandem with improving economic conditions such as the labour market and inflation rate.

"In a way, the global economic recovery narrative looks fairly intact although the timing of the first interest rate hike could wreak havoc on the forex market sentiment,” he told Bernama.

In addition, China’s authorities remained committed to ensure that the potential debt default by Evergrande may not result in credit crunch situation, he said.

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

The ringgit rose to 4.8998/9027 versus the euro from 4.9156/9203 yesterday and rose against the yen to 3.8017/8040 from 3.8270/8311.

It, however, eased to 5.7157/7192 compared to the British pound from 5.7140/7195 at Wednesday’s close and dropped vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.1002/1025 from 3.0996/1028 previously. — Bernama