Malaysian Ringgit Ends Lower Against US Dollar

KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian ringgit ended lower against the US dollar Thursday on lack of positive leads. At 6 pm, the local currency stood at 4.890/0940 against the greenback compared with Wednesday's close of 4.0865/0905. Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said Malaysia's industrial production index growth of 3.2 per cent in January, which is more than the 2.3 per cent estimated earlier, failed to ignite excitement among investors as external data continued to dominate sentiment. "The latest high frequency indicators from China was not forthcoming with the industrial production and retail sales coming in lower during the January-February period to 5.3 per cent and 8.2 per cent from 6.2 per cent and 9.0 per cent in December 2018, respectively. “Besides, the Brexit date is likely to be delayed as there was no substantial vote in support of the proposal. "In a nutshell, there is no strong catalyst for the ringgit at the moment,'’ he told Bernama. Overall, the ringgit was traded lower against other major currencies. It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0162/3201 from 3.0134/0168 on Wednesday, the euro eased to 4.6259/6320 from 4.6153/6219 and depreciated against the British pound to 5.4200/4274 from 5.3668/3729 on Wednesday. The ringgit, however strengthened against the Japanese yen to 3.6594/6648 from 3.6706/6752 yesterday. -- BERNAMA