Malaysia: Ringgit opens slightly lower as dollar strengthens

• Dec 18, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened slightly lower against the US dollar today as the greenback strengthened slightly due to final talks on the proposed US$900 billion COVID-19 aid bill by White House officials and congress leaders.

At 9.03am, the ringgit was quoted at 4.0350/0400 versus the greenback, compared with 4.0320/0370 yesterday.

An analyst said that while the talks are expected to drag into the weekend, there are high hopes that the bill will be passed before the holiday season, easing the financial burden of millions of Americans.

“Congress leasers have cited significant progress in recent days and optimism is high to avoid a government shutdown,” he said.

Nonetheless, he said the ringgit is poised to trend higher at the close, driven by higher oil price and increasing number of those seeking unemployment benefits in the United States.

“Without the passing of the stimulus package, the dollar will be dragged downwards, pushing the ringgit to trend higher,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mixed against all other major currencies.

It marginally slipped against the Singapore dollar to 3.0414/0463 from 3.0410/0460 at Thursday’s close, and declined against the euro to 4.9445/9510 from 4.9315/9389.

However, it appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.9076/9128 from 3.9111/9171 yesterday and strengthened against the British pound to 5.4698/4770 from 5.4771/4851 previously. – Bernama

Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2020/12/18/ringgit-opens-slightly-lower-as-dollar-strengthens