KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 — The ringgit closed lower against the US dollar today in line with the weaker regional currencies weighed by continuous uncertainties surrounding the US-China trade tension, a dealer said.
At 6pm, the ringgit was lower at 4.1750/1780 against the greenback compared with 4.1630/1660 at yesterday’s close.
Phillip Capital Management, Asia-Pacific, senior vice president (investment) Datuk Nazri Khan Adam Khan said the depreciation of regional currencies was driven by the overall fund outflow from the region.
“This is in anticipation of the prolonged US-China trade tension, Norwegian sovereign wealth fund’s omitting emerging market bonds from its fixed income benchmark and possible exclusion of Malaysia in the FTSE Russell’s World Government Bond Index,” he told Bernama.
The ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
The local note traded firmer against the Singapore dollar at 3.0335/0368 from yesterday’s 3.0414/0447 but depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.8051/8093 from 3.7991/8021.
The local currency strengthened vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.3265/3324 from 5.3407/3462 and increased against the euro to 4.6601/6652 from 4.6667/4713 yesterday. — Bernama
