KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit ended lower on Thursday after trading in a tight range throughout the day amid a stronger dollar.
At 6pm, the local currency stood at 4.1440/1480 versus the greenback, compared with 4.1420/1460 at Wednesday’s close.
Bank Islam chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said major currencies such as the euro, yen and the British pound were slightly weaker against the greenback.
The US Dollar Index (DXY) was also higher, he told Bernama.
"The US fiscal stimulus could carry more weight as this is important to ensure an orderly economic recovery.
"If the stimulus bill gets delayed post election on Nov 3, the uncertainties could heighten, which could result in risk-off mode to emerge. Typically, such a scenario would favour the US dollar," he added.
Meanwhile, Axi chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said Asia currencies saw a little pullback in sentiment due to the People's Bank of China (PBOC) introducing smoothing measures to curb the yuan strength.
It was reported that the PBOC had set the yuan midpoint rate at 6.6781 per dollar, 0.22% firmer than the previous fix of 6.6930 and the strongest guidance since July 16, 2018.
The ringgit was traded mixed against other major currencies.
It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0531/0567 from Wednesday’s close of 3.0555/0596 and increased against the euro to 4.9028/9092 from 4.9058/9109 previously.
However, the local unit was lower against the British pound to 5.4274/4331 from 5.4066/4122 yesterday and fell versus the yen to 3.9565/9610 from 3.9481/9531. – Bernama, October 22, 2020
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