KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 26 — The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar today in quiet trading as the greenback remained steady in light holiday trading on Christmas amid positive developments surrounding the US-China trade deal, a dealer said.
At 9am, the ringgit was traded at 4.1360/1390 versus the US dollar from Tuesday's close of 4.1350/1380
Hong Leong Bank Bhd in a note said the ringgit is expected to continue hovering within 4.1300-4.1500 for the remainder of this week in a muted trading week as the year comes to an end.
"The ringgit’s medium-term outlook is still bearish as the dollar is still expected to be well supported by relatively solid US data," it said.
On the trade front, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that there will be a signing ceremony for him and Chinese President Xi Jinping to ink the recently announced phase one trade deal,
The agreement has been done but is being translated now, the research house said, noting it has brought about some positive sentiment to the market.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies except for the Japanese yen.
The local unit fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0528/0555 from 3.0499/0525 on Tuesday, slipped against the euro to 4.5868/5906 from 4.5791/5837 and weakened versus the British pound to 5.3656/3704 from 5.3449/3504.
It appreciated vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.7761/7796 from 3.7787/7824 previously.
— Bernama
