Ringgit Lower Against US Dollar In Early Session

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 (Bernama) -- The ringgit took a breather against the US dollar this morning, after reaching an 18-month high Monday. At 9.09 am, the ringgit was lower at 3.9620/9650 against the greenback from Monday’s close of 3.9540/9580. Oanda Corp Head of Trading for Asia Pacific, Stephen Innes, said most emerging Asian currencies had marked gains versus the greenback, although the market could see some moved paired back ahead of China's data dump on Thursday. “Given that the bullish fundamentals (of the ringgit) are fairly well entrenched, I suspect moves will be driven more by technical signals as we approach the crucial Central Bank of Malaysia or Bank Negara Malaysia rate decision later this month,” he said in a research note Tuesday. Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mixed against a basket of major currencies. It was almost flat against the Singapore dollar at 2.9931/9961 from Monday’s 2.9932/9971, but higher against the Japanese yen at 3.5739/5776 from 3.5760/5806. The ringgit depreciated against the British pound to 5.4640/4685 from 5.4526/4597 and eased against the euro to 4.8546/8591 from 4.8468/8533. -- BERNAMA