Ringgit extends loss against US dollar on profit-taking after recent gains

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit extended last Friday’s loss to end easier against the US dollar on Monday on profit-taking following recent gains amid caution ahead of a US jobs report at the end of this week, an analyst said.

At 6 pm, the local currency fell to 4.3550/3600 versus the greenback from last Friday’s close of 4.3185/3225.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid noted that the ringgit moved lower amid a cautious mood today after performing considerably well in August.

Afzanizam said the markets will also be awaiting the outcome of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) monetary policy council meeting on Thursday besides the US nonfarm payrolls data due on Friday.

“The BNM is likely to keep the overnight policy rate steady at 3.00 per cent while the US Federal Reserve (Fed) is on track to reduce the Fed Funds Rate in the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Sep 17-18,” he told Bernama.

At the close, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies, except versus the Japanese yen, where it rose to 2.9688/9725 from 2.9754/9784 at last Friday’s close. The local unit declined vis-a-vis the euro to 4.8197/8252 from 4.7862/7906 and weakened against the British pound to 5.7203/7269 from 5.6939/6992.

Similarly, the ringgit traded mostly lower against its ASEAN peers.

The local note improved against the Thai baht to 12.7228/7429 from 12.7540/7726 last week but depreciated versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3321/3361 from 3.3158/3191. It also moved lower against the Indonesian rupiah to 280.4/280.9 from 279.3/279.8 last Friday and went down vis-a-vis the Philippine peso to 7.72/7.73 from 7.69/7.70. – Bernama