KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — The ringgit closed lower today as jittery investors are closely watching the two-day US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled to kick start on July 30.
At 6pm, the ringgit stood at 4.1230/1270 from last Friday’s close of 4.1180/1210.
A dealer said investors were awaiting the FOMC members’ decision to see if the interest rate would be eased by 25 basis points as widely expected by the markets.
“Other than that, market participants are also keep a close eye on the US July payrolls report, slated to be released on Friday, to see whether the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut is necessary,” he said.
He added that the resumption of US-China negotiations in Beijing this week also prompted investors to remain on the sidelines today.
At the closing bell, the ringgit, however, was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies, except against the yen.
It was slightly higher against the Singapore dollar at 3.0062/0096 from 3.0091/0118 last Friday, rose against the pound to 5.0849/0915 from 5.1211/1265 and advanced against the euro to 4.5860/5913 from 4.5879/5920.
Vis-a-vis the yen, the local unit eased to 3.7951/7995 from 3.7905/7936 previously. — Bernama
