KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit continued its downtrend against the US dollar today, opening at a fresh all-time low of 4.73 due to a lack of market catalysts, exacerbated by global market uncertainties, dealers said.
At 9am, the local note depreciated by 75 basis points to 4.7345/7360 versus the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.7270/7290.
ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the US dollar continued to strengthen on the back of US initial jobless claims data, which recorded a lower-than-expected reading (214,000 actual against 230,000 forecast).
“As the US Federal Reserve (Fed) aims to control inflation and keep the unemployment rate low, the initial jobless claims indicator sends a message that the job market is heated in the US, making it more likely that the Fed will continue to hike the interest rate in the short-to-medium term,” he said.
He said the US existing home sales data also came in higher than expected, signalling that the US housing market is also strong.
“Both indicators show a potentially positive economic scenario for the US, which provides the space for more interventions by the Fed as it attempts to contain inflation, currently accelerating at its fastest rate in 40 years,” he added.
Meanwhile, SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the Japanese yen also hit its weakest level since 1990 yesterday, and the British pound slid after the United Kingdom’s prime minister Liz Truss announced her resignation.
In the meantime, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local currency fell against the euro to 4.6261/6275 from 4.6244/6264, depreciated vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.3055/3072 from 5.2971/29935 at the close yesterday, and slid against the Singapore dollar to 3.3215/3230 from 3.3172/3188 previously.
However, it improved versus the Japanese yen to 3.1530/1542 from 3.1547/1565 on Wednesday’s closing.
Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia opened easier today, tracking Wall Street’s weaker performance overnight.
At 9.18am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI fell 2.57 points to 1,435.15 from yesterday’s close of 1,437.72. The key index opened 2.33 points easier at 1,435.39.
On the broader market, decliners edged past gainers 164 to 156, while 926 counters were unchanged, 1,116 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.92 billion units worth RM2.68 billion. – Bernama, October 21, 2022
