KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 — The ringgit opens slightly lower today, extending the downtrend as investors wait for Thursday’s announcement on the first quarter (Q1) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures.
At 9am, the local note opened at 4.1595/1625 compared with 4.1570/1600 against the greenback.
A dealer said following the announcement of overnight policy rate last week and monthly industrial production index (IPI) data, dealers now wait for the release of Q1 GDP data before investing.
RHB Bank in its economic research today said the increase in March IPI to 3.1 per cent from 1.7 per cent in February was above expectations, lifted by the manufacturing sector and electricity.
“We expect GDP growth to ease to 4.3 per cent year-on-year in 1Q19 from 4.7 per cent in 4Q18 due to economic slowdown as well escalating trade tensions between US-China,” it said.
Meanwhile, SPI Asset Management Managing Partner Stephen Innes said the market is still heavily biased towards the ongoing trade dispute between the US and China and any fall out in the negotiations would impact the market tremendously.
“Markets have shrugged off the tariff announcement with little more than a stumble and investor optimism remain optimistic that the escalation will prove to be short-lived and followed by a Trump-Xi agreement,” he said to Bernama.
Meanwhile, against other major foreign currencies, the ringgit also traded lower.
The local note fared better against the Singapore dollar at 3.0486/0510 from Friday’s 3.0503/0534 but depreciated against the British pound to 5.4107/4150 from 5.4091/4147.
The local currency weakened vis-a-vis the yen to 3.7910/7948 from 3.7843/7880 and decreased against the euro to 4.6711/6762 to 4.6683/6733 Friday. — Bernama
