Malaysian Ringgit Opens Marginally Lower Against US Dollar

KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian ringgit opened marginally lower against the US dollar on Friday as investors remained cautious following the interest rate increase by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) on Wednesday and ahead of the weekend. Players were adopting a "wait-and-see" attitude and kept their exposure to the greenback to the minimum until a more clearer direction emerged. At 9 am, the local note was traded at 4.4360/4400 against the greenback from Thursday's close of 4.4350/4390. "Market sentiment remained wary and the Fed's statement had overturned expectations of many investors who anticipated a rapid rate hike this year. "The dovish statement also led to a weakening dollar against other major currencies," he said. The Fed raised the interest rates by 25 basis points to a range of between 0.75 per cent and 1.00 per cent on Wednesday. On the local front, the ringgit traded lower against a basket of major currencies, except the Japanese yen. It eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.1613/1646 from 3.1586/1630 on Thursday and versus the British pound, it fell to 5.4811/4874 from 5.4320/4387 on Thursday. The local note weakened against the euro to 4.7758/7805 from Thursday's close of 4.7499/7546, but it was higher against the yen at 3.9094/9143 from 3.9099/9145 on Thursday. --BERNAMA