Malaysian Ringgit Ends Lower Against US Dollar

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian ringgit closed lower against the US dollar on Thursday, a dealer said. At 6 pm, the ringgit was at 4.4510/4560 to the greenback from Wednesday's close of 4.4470/4510. The dealer said the US dollar attracted demand towards the close. The ringgit hit an intra-day low of 4.4555 in the afternoon.But, losses were capped after the market digested the fourth quarter 2016 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 4.5 per cent released by Bank Negara Malaysia (Malaysia's Central Bank) at noon. The growth was within the market's expection of 4.4 per cent. However, the currency market is still jittery in anticipation of a possible faster-than-expected US interest rate increase due to upbeat US economic data. "The interest rate hike may weigh heavily on the ringgit," the dealer said. Against a basket of major currencies, the local note traded lower. It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.1374/1420 from Wednesday's 3.1240/1288 and depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.9168/9222 from 3.8842/8884. The ringgit slid against the euro to 4.7345/7412 from Wednesday's 4.6943/6989 and declined against the British pound to 5.5669/5745 from 5.5223/5281. --BERNAMA