Malaysian Ringgit Opens Lower Against US Dollar

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian ringgit opened lower against the US dollar Wednesday as the greenback strengthened broadly on upbeat US economic data, dealers said. At 9 am, the ringgit was quoted at 4.1350/1400 against the greenback from 4.1250/1300 on Tuesday. A dealer said the positive US manufacturing data released recently had revived bets on a year-end US interest rate increase. A Federal Reserve official on Tuesday had also indicated a strong case for raising interest rates to keep inflation under control, he said. The local note was also traded lower against a basket of major currencies except the yen. It slipped against the British pound to 5.2618/2706 from Monday's close of 5.2606/2674, slid against the Singapore dollar to 3.0167/0206 from 3.0114/0161 and fell against the euro to 4.6341/6414 from 4.6023/6083 yesterday. The ringgit improved against the yen to 4.0212/0272 from 4.0279/0348 on Monday. -- BERNAMA