KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5 — The ringgit ended higher against the US dollar today as the overnight greenback retreated slightly amid waning positive impacts of Federal Reserve hawkish comments and as investors waited for more signs on the data front, dealers said.
At 6pm, the local currency rose to 4.4490/4520 versus the greenback from Thursday’s close of 4.4565/4590.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said that after trading more upbeat due to favourable risk sentiment, the ringgit pared intraday gains as local traders squared books ahead of the release of the US Non-Farm Payroll data tonight.
“The lower oil prices, with Brent crude back to below US$100, could be weighing on risk, as are the residual effects of this week’s uptick in geopolitical risk.
“Oil prices touched six-month lows this week. Concerns about oil demand continue to dominate after the weak US gasoline demand number earlier this week and as central banks raise rates emphatically,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, the ringgit also closed lower against a basket of major currencies except for the British pound.
The local currency slipped against the euro to 4.5513/5544 from 4.5398/5424 on Thursday and depreciated vis-à-vis the Japanese yen to 3.3459/3484 from 3.3228/3251 previously.
It also eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.2330/2355 from Thursday’s close of 3.2310/2333 but advanced versus the British pound to 5.3989/4025 from 5.4271/4302 yesterday.
— Bernama
