Malaysian Ringgit Opens Marginally Lower Against US Dollar

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 (Bernama) -- The Malaysia ringgit opened slightly lower on Monday in anticipation of the local note being weighed down on several fronts, particularly a slowdown in global growth, said OANDA Head of Trading Asia-Pacific, Stephen Innes. At 9 am, the ringgit was lower at 4.1840/1890 versus last Friday’s 4.1830/1880. “A slowdown in global growth would be bad for oil prices and eventually have an effect on local exports, and the currency market had a very muted start today. But, I think last week’s weaker EU and China data, also continued to resonate,” he told Bernama. He said the US Federal Reserve (Fed) is also expected to raise interest rates this week which would continue to support the dollar. “But, the market has priced a lot of hawkishness out of the 2019 and 2020 Fed expectations, so it will remain neutral. “I think the ringgit will struggle to gain traction in this environment, but I don't expect a near-term test of 4.20,” he added. Meanwhile, the local note was easier against the yen, it stood at 3.6876/6930 from 3.6842/6895 on Friday, declined against the Singapore dollar to 3.0405/0446 from 3.0393/0434 and fell against the euro at 4.7296/7369 from 4.7239/7299. The ringgit, however, improved to 5.2631/2698 against the pound from 5.2635/2710. -- BERNAMA