KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 — The ringgit declines against the US dollar in the early session today on weaker demand for the local note following a surge in US Treasury yield.
At 9.05am, the local unit traded at 4.0820/0870 against the greenback from 4.0790/0820 at yesterday’s closing.
A dealer said higher US manufacturing activity has encouraged some investors to shift towards US dollar-denominated bonds, causing the benchmark 10-year rate to increase more than eight basis points.
Malaysia, on the other hand, recorded a lower manufacturing activity with the headline Nikkei Malaysia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) down to 47.2 in March from February’s reading of 47.6.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was higher against a basket of major currencies.
It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0108/0156 from 3.0114/0141 and improved against the Japanese yen to 3.6656/6711 from 3.6744/6781.
The ringgit was higher against the British pound to 5.3327/3413 from 5.3419/3474 and rose against the euro to 4.5727/5803 from 4.5832/5882. — Bernama
