Malaysian Ringgit Lower In Early Trade Versus US Dollar

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian ringgit opened marginally lower against a rejuvenated US dollar on Friday, said a dealer. At 9.30 am, the local unit was quoted at 4.1840/1900 against the dollar from Thursday's close of 4.1810/1880. The dealer said the greenback rose on the back of upbeat US home resales data for September and hawkish comments from a US Federal Reserve permanent voter on policy in support of raising interest rates later this year if the US economy remains on track. "Domestically, the market would be watching for local leads from the 2017 Budget scheduled to be tabled in the afternoon," he added. The ringgit, however, gained strength against other major currencies in early trade on Friday. It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0047/0111 from 3.0081/0136 on Thursday and strengthened against the yen to 4.0188/0265 from 4.0303/0374. The ringgit also traded higher against the British pound at 5.1267/1344 from 5.1326/1433 and firmed against the euro to 4.5685/5759 from 4.5845/5938. --BERNAMA