KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit slipped further against the US dollar at the close today in line with other emerging Asian currencies, taking the cue from the weaker Chinese yuan and lack of risk appetite, a dealer said.
The yuan fell more than 1% against the greenback on Monday amid continuing novel coronavirus worries.
At 6 pm, the ringgit was quoted at 4.1125/1155 against the US dollar from 4.0960/1000 last Friday.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar remained firm supported by relatively solid US data, while the risk-off mode continued to persist as the coronavirus outbreak had been widespread with more virus cases and deaths reported.
“The ringgit was hovering near its resistance level of RM4.1192 against the US dollar as a result,” he added.
Mohd Afzanizam said the pro-active measures by China’s central bank to lower the interest rates on reverse repurchase agreements, as well as injecting a total of 1.2 tril yuan (RM7 bil) into money markets to provide liquidity, had not been seen to mitigate the tension in the market.
China’s equity indices declined significantly on reopening after being closed for more than a week. However, he felt that the measure was a step in the right direction to boost up the confidence.
Against other major currencies, the ringgit was also traded lower.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0051/0084 from 2.9988/3.0032 last Friday and depreciated vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.7896/7931 from 3.7581/7628.
The local currency also weakened against the euro to 4.5529/5579 from 4.5167/5227 previously and slipped against the British pound to 5.3792/3839 from 5.3723/3792. – Feb 3, 2020, Bernama
