KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 — The ringgit continued its slide to opened lower against the US dollar today on the back of the greenback’s further strength amid worries over the worsening US-China trade war, dealers said.
At 9am, the local note fell to 4.1930/1980 against the greenback compared with 4.1920/1960 at Wednesday’s close.
A dealer said the fear of the trade war spurred selling in emerging markets, while at the same time, the impact of global growth slowdown continues to be priced into emerging markets including Malaysia which is a small and highly open economy.
“The US dollar will continue to act as a safe haven asset, especially amidst the trade dispute, Brexit uncertainty and global growth concerns,” the dealer said.
The ringgit, meanwhile, traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.8275/8331 from 3.8353/8400 and strengthened versus the British pound to 5.2932/3000 from 5.2991/3050.
The local note improved against the euro to 4.6710/6770 from 4.6758/6819 but decreased against the Singapore dollar to 3.0373/0420 from Wednesday’s 3.0317/0357. — Bernama
