KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — The ringgit closed lower against the US dollar today on the anticipation that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) would end the Negative Interest Rate Policy when it concludes its meeting tomorrow, an analyst said.

At 6pm, the ringgit eased to 4.7165/7195 against the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.7050/7095.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the local note was also weak versus the greenback ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on March 19 and 20.

"Market participants are anxious about the Federal Reserve stand on the prospect of a rate cut. It’s a foregone conclusion that the Fed will keep the rate steady at 5.50 per cent at this week’s meeting,” he told Bernama.

He said the focus would be on where the Fed expects the rate to be this year and the next two years.

"Should a hawkish stand prevail, it will keep the US dollar on firmer ground,” he explained.

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

It increased vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.1608/1630 from 3.1637/1669 on Friday but fell against the British pound to 6.0060/0098 from 6.0003/0060 and weakened versus the euro to 5.1400/1433 from 5.1275/1324 previously.

The ringgit traded mixed against other Asean currencies.

It firmed versus the Thai baht to 13.1050/1203 from 13.1480/1661 at Friday’s close and better against the Indonesian rupiah to 300.5/300.9 from 301.5/302.0.

However, the local note depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.5253/5278 from 3.5183/5219 and slid against the Philippine peso to 8.49/8.50 compared with 8.47/8.48 previously. — Bernama