Ringgit slightly lower against US dollar in early session

KUALA LUMPUR - The ringgit was traded slightly lower against the US dollar in the early session today as some investors took advantage of the weaker greenback, dealers said.

At 9.30am, the local note inched down to 4.4220/4260 versus the greenback compared with yesterday’s closing rate of 4.4160/4200.

In a note today, ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the US dollar had declined following the slight increase in interest rates in the United States.

"Normally a currency rises together with the interest rate of the issuing country. However, the latest hike in the US was widely expected and comments from Federal Reserve (Fed) officials seem to now be hinting at a less tight monetary policy.

"Some analysts are already starting to predict that the Fed may pause the hikes for a while. Additionally, the greenback was also weighed down by the New Home Sales data for the month of February, which came in lower than expected,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

The local note strengthened vis-a-vis the euro to 4.7864/7907 from 4.8055/8098 at yesterday’s close and appreciated versus the British pound to 5.4254/4303 from 5.4379/4428 on Thursday, but fell against the Japanese yen to 3.3950/3986 from 3.3679/3712 previously.

At the same time, the ringgit was traded lower against Asean currencies.

The local currency slipped against the Indonesian rupiah to 288.1/288.5 from 287.70/288.10 at Thursday’s close and weakened versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3293/3328 from 3.3278/3313 previously.

The local note also dropped against the Thai baht to 12.9765/9947 from 12.9562/9741 yesterday and declined versus the Philippine peso to 8.14/8.15 from 8.13/8.14 previously. - BERNAMA