KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 ― The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar on lack of demand.

At 9.08am, the ringgit was pegged at 4.1780/1830 against the greenback from 4.1750/1790 recorded yesterday. 

A dealer said the US dollar rose to a near three-week high on news that several major economies would launch stimulus measures to counter the global economic slowdown.

A stronger US dollar according to AmBank Research was due to tighter liquidity.

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Its status as safe haven would also add downward pressure on the ringgit with the local note’s direction would also be impacted by global interest rates movement.

“We believe global monetary easing will continue as countries will use cheap rates to weaken their currencies and maintain the comparative advantage. Thus, we expect Bank Negara Malaysia to follow the trend of the global interest rate cycle than to stay behind the curve,” it said in a note today.

Against the yen, the ringgit rose to 3.9182/9240 from yesterday’s 3.9183/9228 while vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar it went up to 3.0125/0176 from 3.0144/0184.

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The local note fell against the British pound to 5.0683/0748 from 5.0593/0645 but advanced against the euro to 4.6309/6369 from 4.6338/6399. ― Bernama