KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 — The ringgit extended Friday’s losses against the United States (US) dollar, closing lower today following a 0.70 per cent rise in the US Dollar Index (DXY) to 98.406 points.
At 6pm, the local note eased to 4.2135/2180 versus the greenback compared with Friday’s close of 4.2055/2125.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar-ringgit exchange rate moved in a narrow range today, hovering around RM4.2103 to RM4.2180.
He noted that the Japanese yen weakened the most against the US dollar, with the dollar-yen rate surpassing 150 yen, as incoming Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is likely to favour pro-growth policies.
“Such a situation appears to have benefited the US dollar. Regional currencies also depreciated against the US dollar,” Afzanizam told Bernama.
At the close, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It increased versus the euro to 4.9155/9207 from 4.9360/9442 at Friday’s close and appreciated against the Japanese yen to 2.8019/8051 from 2.8537/8586 at the end of last week, but weakened vis-à-vis the British pound to 5.6608/6669 from 5.6577/6671.
The local note was traded mixed against Asean currencies.
It inched up vis-à-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.2562/2599 from 3.2621/2678 at Friday’s close and rose versus the Philippine peso to 7.22/7.23 from 7.26/7.28 previously.
However, it slipped against the Thai baht to 12.9810/13.0009 from 12.9807/13.0084 on Friday and slid versus the Indonesian rupiah to 254.0/254.4 from 253.9/254.4.
