KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — The ringgit ended lower against the US dollar today as the greenback continued to strengthen amid encouraging United States (US) economic data, an analyst said.
At 6pm, the local currency weakened to 4.2185/2215 versus the greenback from 4.2110/2135 at Friday's close.
OANDA senior market analyst Asia Pacific Jeffrey Halley said the US labour market extended a strong and speedy recovery with the non-farm payrolls data showing a healthy gain of 431,000 jobs, albeit lower than expected.
"The greenback continued to gain crucial support as firm economic data pushed the US yields higher," he said.
Meanwhile, Halley noted that Asian currencies were traded slightly weaker on concern over the Covid-19 outbreak in China but mostly continued to range trade waiting for directional signals.
"Widened virus restrictions in China will be an additional headwind for Asian currencies, and the continuing rise in US yields means downward pressures are continuing to build as well," he added.
At the close, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies except the euro, against which it rose to 4.6441/6474 from 4.6557/6584 at Friday's close.
The local unit depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.1082/1109 from 3.1061/1082 on Friday, fell vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.5330/5369 from 5.5286/5319 previously, and slid against the Japanese yen to 3.4414/4442 from 3.4376/4399.
— Bernama
