KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — The ringgit, unsurprisingly, closed lower against the US dollar today after the US Federal Reserve (Fed) eased its interest rate by 25 basis-point early today, coupled with the US-China trade talks that ended without any definitive deal.
At 6pm, the ringgit lost 190 basis points to close at 4.1440/1470 from yesterday’s close of 4.1250/1280.
Vanguard Markets Pte Ltd managing partner Stephen Innes said the fall in the local note was in line with other Asian currencies, as there had been an exit of carry trades due to the Fed’s hawkish rate cut.
“If we frame this with a less-than-convincing outcome from this week’s trade negotiations in Shanghai, it’s a double negative for the ringgit,” he told Bernama.
It was reported that both US and Chinese trade negotiators planned to continue another round of trade negotiations in Washington in early September as the two-day meeting in Shanghai today ended without any significant breakthrough.
Other than that, Innes said, “With crude oil markets trending lower, it hasn’t been a great day for Asian currencies, the ringgit in particular.”
Benchmark Brent crude oil slid to US$64.40 (RM267) per barrel as at 6.19pm today.
At the closing bell, the ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies except for the Singapore dollar.
It rose against the yen to 3.7984/8021 from 3.7997/8029 yesterday, advanced against the euro to 4.5741/5779 from 4.5969/6019 and improved versus the pound to 5.0126/0179 from 5.0189/0242.
Vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar, the local unit was flat at 3.0134/0167 from 3.0134/0162 previously. — Bernama
