KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 — The ringgit closed lower against the US dollar today despite some technical correction experienced by the greenback after appreciating quite rapidly in the past few weeks, said an analyst.
At 6 pm, the local note depreciated to 4.1690/1700 versus the US dollar from Friday’s close of 4.1560/1590.
According to Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, technical indicators such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Stochastic had shown that the ringgit was nearing its overbought position, whereby selling activities could set in as forex marker participants may want to cash in some gains.
He believed the ringgit should be constructive following higher commodity prices such as Brent Crude which has been hovering at above US$80 per barrel.
”This could help to improve government coffers to support growth while the uplifting of the travel ban should allow livelier economic activities that could result in better economic prospects going into 2022,” he told Bernama.
The ringgit was also traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
It narrowed against the Singapore dollar to 3.0875/0884 from 3.0824/0849 at Friday’s close and fell versus the euro to 4.8285/8297 from 4.8222/8257 previously.
The local note also slipped vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.6449/6461 from 3.6341/6368 last Friday and weakened versus the British pound to 5.7245/7258 from 5.7049/7091 previously.
The market will be closed tomorrow to observe Prophet Muhammad’s birthday. — Bernama
