KUALA LUMPUR (July 21): The ringgit extended its decline and opened easier on Thursday (July 21) as the uncertain global markets weighed on investors’ risk appetite for risky assets, said a dealer.
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At 9am, the local currency slipped to 4.4550/4570 versus the greenback from Wednesday’s close of 4.4500/4540.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said the local currency opened a touch weaker as investors prepared themselves to navigate the gauntlet of risks in Europe on Thursday, including the European Central Bank’s rate hike, the geopolitical tension in Italy and the uncertainty over the restart of the offshore natural gas pipeline, Nord Stream 1.
“As a result, global markets remain unstable, which impacts market sentiment. Also, the [US] currency strengthened due to increasing yields as the market anticipates that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by 75 basis points next week,” he told Bernama.
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Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
The local currency inched up against the Singapore dollar to 3.1972/1989 from 3.1978/2009 on Wednesday and appreciated versus the British pound to 5.3309/3332 from 5.3498/3546 previously.
It also went up versus the Japanese yen to 3.2173/2190 from 3.2202/2233 on Wednesday and rose vis-a-vis the euro to 4.5379/5399 from 4.5586/5627 previously.-BERNAMA