KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 — The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar today, as the greenback rebounded on the back of strong US economic data released on Friday.
The US economy remained strong despite the slowdown and showed an annual growth rate of 2.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2019, said a dealer.
At 9am, the ringgit was traded at 4.1390/1420 versus the US dollar from last Friday's close of 4.1380/1420
However, AxiTrader chief Asia market strategist Stephen Innes said with the absence of tail risk from trade, the macro should favour steeper curves in Asia, particularly in low yielders, and scope for catch-up in foreign exchange spot returns in more export- and equity-sensitive currencies like the Korean Won and the ringgit.
“But with the ringgit looking 'cheap' relative to other local units, with an undervaluation correlated between -3 to -7 per cent, I think the currency could be the sleeper trade entering 2020,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
The local unit advanced against the euro to 4.5844/5881 from 4.6010/6067 last Friday, appreciated vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.7813/7851 from 3.7842/7889 and strengthened versus the British pound to 5.3832/3887 from 5.3955/3024.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0524/0557 from 3.0518/0559 previously. — Bernama
