KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 — The ringgit extended its losses to end lower against the US dollar today due to growing concerns over the outcome of the US Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) meeting, said an analyst.
At 6pm, the local note was traded lower at 4.1190/1240 versus the greenback from 4.1120/1160 at yesterday’s close.
An analyst said the market was in a cautious mode as investors were waiting to see whether the United States Federal Reserve (US Fed) would maintain near-zero interest rates amidst the post-pandemic economic recovery, as the FOMC concludes its two-day meeting later today.
He said there were lingering concerns over whether the US Fed’s chair Jerome Powell would say that the FOMC has the tools to intervene if the bond market becomes disorderly or constrains economic recovery.
He added that the US bond yields and the greenback could rebound if the FOMC’s post‑meeting statement and Powell’s statement are not deemed dovish enough.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was also traded lower against other major currencies.
It depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.0593/0637 from 3.0543/0579 yesterday, and weakened against the Japanese yen at 3.7751/7807 from 3.7652/7699 yesterday.
The ringgit fell against the British pound to 5.7250/7332 from 5.6857/6928 and declined versus the euro to 4.9053/9129 from 4.9044/9108 previously. — Bernama
