Ringgit Opens Lower Against US Dollar

By Siti Noor Afera Abu KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 (Bernama) -- The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar Monday as the greenback strengthened amid heightening trade tensions. At 9 am, the local note traded at 4.1180/1230 versus the US dollar from last Thursday's close of 4.1080/1110. FXTM Global Head of Currency Strategy and Market Research Jameel Ahmad said there was optimism building that the US could announce new agreements with Canada and the European Union this week, which would provide encouragement to the underlying suspicion that President Donald Trump does not intend to begin a global trade war. “How the US dollar reacts to trade developments will be pivotal towards any future developments in the ringgit,” he told Bernama. He said it was also important to monitor ongoing developments with the Turkish Lira, as the currency was very much at risk of entering a new crisis phase. “If the Lira does sell off at a similar pace to what occurred at the beginning of August, this will keep major investors away from emerging currency markets, once again. “This means that the ringgit will again suffer from the fallout of a weak emerging market investor sentiment,” he added. The market was closed on Friday for the National Day celebration. The ringgit traded lower against a basket of other currencies. It went down against the British pound to 5.3209/3290 from 5.3462/3525 on last Thursday, depreciated against the euro to 4.7740/7814 from 4.8055/8099 and fell against the Singapore dollar to 2.9991/3.0036 from Thursday’s close of 3.0073/1100. The local note was also lower against the yen at 3.7099/7154 from 3.6820/6863. --BERNAMA