KUALA LUMPUR, April 24 — The ringgit ended the week on a lower note today as demand for the US dollar increased on the back of the high-level anti-virus drug trial that failed to treat the Covid-19, analysts said.
At 6 pm, the local unit dropped 50 basis points to 4.3600/3680 versus the greenback from 4.3550/3650 at Thursday’s close.
Reports said the disappointing results from the trial had prompted the rise in demand for the US dollar due to its safe-haven status as the drug was previously thought to be one of the best prospects for treating the virus.
AxiCorp global chief market strategist Stephen Innes said the negative commentary on the recent European Union (EU) Summit also supported a firmer US dollar.
According to news report, the EU leaders failed to agree on a broad and imminent economic recovery package, instead only settling for approving previous plans for a limited package and studying a larger fund in June.
Meanwhile, at the closing, the local unit also traded mostly lower against other major currencies.
It eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.0594/0657 from 3.0559/0640 at Thursday’s close and weakened against yen to 4.0494/0576 from 4.0466/0571.
Vis-a-vis the pound, the ringgit however improved to 5.3741/3853 from 5.3784/3921 but against the euro, it fell to 4.6927/7030 from 4.6912/7037 yesterday. — Bernama
