KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — The ringgit continued its downward trend to end lower against the US dollar today amid higher inflation data, coupled with further gains on the greenback, said an analyst.

At 6pm, the local currency declined to 4.3805/3850 versus the US dollar from yesterday’s close of 4.3755/3780.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia reported that Malaysia’s inflation rate increased by 2.5 per cent, driven by the rising food and fuel prices in 2021.

The increase was higher compared with the 0.7 per cent inflation rate recorded during the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

OANDA Asia Pacific senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said higher US Treasury yield overnight allowed the US dollar to rise, with the dollar index rising 0.48 per cent to 101.78.

"Firmer US dollar saw Asian currencies reverse most of the previous day’s gains, with the ringgit, once again, a notable underperformer,” he told Bernama.

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

The local note was almost flat against the Singapore dollar at 3.1928/1965 from yesterday’s close of 3.1929/1949.

It increased vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.3865/3903 from 3.4202/4222.

The ringgit moved lower versus the British pound to 5.5159/5216 from 5.5144/5176 yesterday, and decreased versus the euro to 4.6985/7034 from 4.6923/6950. — Bernama