KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 8): The ringgit opened lower versus the US dollar on Monday (Aug 8), as the greenback continued to strengthen its appeal as a safe-haven currency, amid risk-off sentiment in the market, analysts said.
At 9am, the local currency had slipped to 4.4580/4610 against the US dollar, compared with 4.4490/4520 at last Friday’s close.
An analyst said the 10-year US Treasury yield fell to 2.38%, as demand for safe-haven instruments strengthened, exacerbated by fears that the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes were tipping the economy into a recession.
He said appetite for cash-like instruments is now rising despite low returns, and that would mean that the main focus at the moment is to protect the principle of investment.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
The local currency rose against the euro to 4.5320/5351 from 4.5513/5544 last Friday, and appreciated vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.2944/2971 from 3.3459/3484 last week.
It also strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.2251/2275 from last Friday’s close at 3.2330/2355, and advanced versus the British pound to 5.3746/3782 from 5.3989/4025 previously.-BERNAMA