KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 — The ringgit slipped further against the US dollar at close today as the greenback, a safe haven currency, strengthened amid rising geopolitical risks in Eastern Europe, while investors await the outcome from the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, dealers said.

At 6pm, the local note eased to 4.1890/1905 versus the US dollar from 4.1870/1905 at the close yesterday.

ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said investors have been undecisive ahead of the interest rate decision by the US central bank, which is due tomorrow.

"There is a real possibility that the Federal Reserve will increase the interest rate from 0.25 per cent to 0.50 per cent to contain the effects of inflation.

"If this indeed happens, the US dollar could rise substantially in the coming days against the ringgit. This would also signal a major shift in the US central bank’s positioning from dovish to hawkish in its monetary policy,” he told Bernama.

He said, from a technical point of view, if the US dollar managed to break above 4.1950 versus ringgit, it could move up to 4.2450 in a few days.

Meanwhile, the local note was traded mostly higher against a basket of other major currencies except the Singapore dollar.

The ringgit rose versus the euro to 4.7277/7294 from 4.7422/7462 at yesterday’s close and appreciated against the British pound to 5.6464/6484 from 5.6629/6677 yesterday.

It also strengthened against the Japanese yen to 3.6723/6739 from 3.6854/6888 yesterday, but fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.1168/1184 from 3.1146/1175. — Bernama