KUALA LUMPUR (May 18): The ringgit strengthened against the US dollar in the early session today as the latter has been trading broadly weaker in the wake of last week’s sub-par US retail sales data.
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At 9am, the local currency was traded at 4.1250/1290 against the greenback from yesterday’s close at 4.1290/1325.
SPI Asset Management global managing partner Stephen Innes said while a bearish US dollar is still very much the consensus, concerns about Covid-19 cases continue to weigh on Asian foreign exchange trading.
“The pandemic and related issues have been negatively skewing local units where the sharp rise in cases has caused governments to either reimpose lockdowns or move back into more restrictive mobility measures,” he told Bernama.
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Meanwhile, the local note was traded mixed against other major currencies.
The ringgit improved marginally against the Singapore dollar to 3.0913/0945 from yesterday’s close at 3.0915/0953 and strengthened against the yen to 3.7768/7808 from 3.7808/7847.
The local unit, however, eased vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.8365/8438 from 5.8223/8289 and fell against the euro to 5.0144/0196 from 5.0184/0235.-BERNAMA