KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit ended the final day of the week on a lower note against the US dollar as the greenback strengthened while rising Covid-19 cases continued to weigh on investors’ sentiment, said an analyst.
At 6pm, the local currency was traded at 4.1530/1570 versus the US dollar compared with 4.1520/1570 at Wednesday’s close.
The market was closed yesterday for the Maulidur Rasul public holiday.
Axi chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said the marginal decline in the ringgit was also in line with the easier prices of oil, which continued to see depressed demand as Covid-19 cases spiked.
“However, with the Nov 3 US presidential election nearing, foreign exchange (FX) market activities have been lighter across Asia, with most regional currencies also tracking the movement of the Chinese yuan,” he told Bernama.
As at the time of writing, benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.35% higher at US$37.80 (RM157.12) per barrel.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against other major currencies.
It improved against the Singapore dollar to 3.0427/0468 from Wednesday’s close of 3.0469/0517 and rose against the British pound to 5.3806/3866 from 5.3860/3929.
The ringgit strengthened against the euro to 4.8470/8529 from 4.8778/8841, but decreased versus the yen to 3.9757/9814 from 3.9835/9894 previously. – Bernama, October 30, 2020
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