KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 — The ringgit ended lower for the fourth straight session against the US dollar today, in line with fresh recession fears following aggressive monetary policy moves by central banks globally.
At 6pm, the local currency was traded at 4.4315/4350 against the greenback compared with 4.4250/4300 at the close yesterday.
Former Federal Reserve official William Dudley reportedly said it was likely that interest rates could go higher even as the United States unemployment rate began to inflate.
A trader said the market was also in a cautious stance for most of the day as investors await the Bank of Japan (BoJ) policy announcement.
In a surprise move, the BoJ said it would be widening the yield target band, allowing the yields on 10-year government bonds to move up or down within 50 basis points around its zero per cent target, wider than the previous 25 basis points band.
At home, the latest inflation print will also be released this week.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local note was lower versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2816/2847 from 3.2633/2674 at yesterday’s close, depreciated vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.3531/3565 from 3.2515/2554, and weaker versus the euro to 4.7133/7171 from 4.7016/7069.
However, it rose against the British pound to 5.3834/3876 from 5.4043/4104 yesterday. — Bernama
