Muristek
A money changer counts ringgit notes at a shop in Putrajaya. — Reuters pic
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KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — The ringgit closed lower today as investors were under pressure to sell risky assets as market sentiment was clouded by worries over stagflation.
At 6pm, the local currency declined further to 4.1845/1875 versus the US dollar compared with 4.1800/1840 versus the US dollar at yesterday’s close.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said the current situation is weighing on the ringgit.
“Stagflation is getting triggered by higher oil prices and in the case of the ringgit, too much of a good thing, such as high oil prices are actually not 100 per cent supportive in this case,” he told Bernama.
Innes said investors are really struggling from information overload.
At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at US$126.8 (RM530) per barrel.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of major currencies, except for Japanese yen.
It strengthened against the yen to 3.6126/6155 from 3.6159/6197 yesterday but eased against the British pound to 5.5068/5108 from 5.4837/4890.
The ringgit fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0739/0766 from yesterday’s 3.0656/0688 and declined against the euro to 4.5912/5945 from 4.5508/5551. — Bernama