KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit ended lower against the US dollar today, dampened by negative sentiment following Fitch Ratings’ decision to downgrade Malaysia’s sovereign debt rating to BBB+ from A- previously, said an analyst.
At 6pm, the local note eased 120 basis points (bps) to 4.0700/0740 against the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.0580/0620.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the news on the rating suggested that the ringgit was in for a volatile ride this week.
“To some degree, the news was not entirely unexpected since Fitch has revised its rating outlook from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’ in April this year.
“Given the sheer size of our budget gap next year, such response from the rating agencies should be part of the scenario building,” he said.
Afzanizam said the current resistance level for the ringgit is located at 4.0809 and the next resistance level will be at 4.1512.
However, the ringgit traded higher against other major currencies.
It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0403/0442 from 3.0461/0498 at last Friday’s close and appreciated vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.3997/3054 from 5.4698/4772.
The ringgit strengthened versus the euro to 4.9210/9275 from 4.9366/9430 at last Friday’s close and was slightly higher against the Japanese yen at 3.9022/9072 from 3.9023/9080 previously. – Bernama, December 7, 2020
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