Muristek
At 6 pm, the local note eased further to 4.2875/2910 versus the greenback from 4.2800/2830 at yesterday’s close. — AFP pic
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KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 — The ringgit fell for the fifth consecutive day against the US dollar today, depreciating 2.75 per cent year-to-date to 4.2875 due to weak global sentiment and in line with the Chinese yuan’s performance, said economists.
At 6 pm, the local note eased further to 4.2875/2910 versus the greenback from 4.2800/2830 at yesterday’s close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said weak global sentiment and a lack of demand for the local currency had resulted in some selling of the ringgit.
“Based on our data, we noticed some selling by foreign holdings, and this was also due to some selling in the equities locally,” he told Bernama.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said the weakness in the Chinese yuan had influenced the performance of the ringgit.
“The ringgit is under pressure due to the yuan, and Asia traders believe the current US bond market rally is only a temporary respite, with higher US yields on the way,” he said.
Innes said the concerns were not only about higher US yields but also over the US Federal Reserve’s balance sheet runoff, which could make the ringgit weaker.
China’s yuan fell to a more-than-six-month low against the US dollar today after the People’s Bank of China set a weaker daily midpoint, as corporate dollar buying and expectations of US policy tightening propped the greenback.
Meanwhile, the ringgit also traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.1496/1524 from 3.1371/1398 yesterday and slipped versus the Japanese yen to 3.3478/3508 from 3.3432/3458 previously.
The local currency declined further vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.6003/6049 from 5.5781/5820 yesterday and weakened against the euro to 4.6794/6832 from 4.6468/6501. — Bernama