KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 18): The ringgit eased against the US dollar on Thursday morning (Aug 18), due to firmer demand for the greenback, after the US Federal Reserve (Fed) indicated the possibility of a significant interest rate adjustment to bring rising inflation under control, analysts said.
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At 9am, the local currency stood at 4.4670/4700 against the greenback, from Wednesday’s close at 4.4660/4685.
In its latest policy meeting minutes, the Fed said that it saw “little evidence” late last month that US inflation was subsiding, and recognised that it would take a considerable amount of time for the situation to be resolved.
However, the ringgit’s losses were capped by rising oil prices, with Brent crude trading around US$93 (RM415.62) per barrel.
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Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies on Thursday morning.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.2334/2361 from 3.2315/2338 at Wednesday’s close, and declined against the euro at 4.5501/5531 from 4.5455/5480.
The local unit was also flat vis-a-vis the yen at 3.3126/3150 from 3.3126/3147 on Wednesday, but improved versus the pound to 5.3827/3864 from 5.4048/4078.-BERNAMA