RINGGIT CONTINUES DOWNTREND AMID UNCERTAINTY OVER US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

By Siti Noor Afera Abu

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 (Bernama) -- The ringgit continued to weaken against the US dollar on Wednesday as uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the US presidential election on Nov 5 weighed on the local currency.

At 6 pm, the local note was at 4.3490/3535 against the greenback compared with Tuesday’s close of 4.3255/3305.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US Republican candidate, Donald Trump, is perceived as being more aggressive towards trade protectionism, with a policy approach that includes highly expansionary fiscal measures.

He stated that, if implemented, these policies could disrupt the global economy and lead to inflationary pressures, potentially affecting the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) current monetary policy stance to cut interest rates. “As a result, traders and investors are turning to the US dollar as a safe haven currency,” he told Bernama.

At the close, the ringgit was mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

It edged up against the Japanese yen to 2.8484/8516 from 2.8668/8704 on Tuesday's close but slipped against the euro to 4.6887/6935 from 4.6785/6839 and dropped vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.6433/6491 from 5.6097/6162 yesterday.

The ringgit traded mostly lower versus ASEAN currencies.

It depreciated against the Philippine peso to 7.50/7.52 from 7.47/7.49 previously, weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.2932/2969 from 3.2879/2919 and eased against the Indonesian rupiah to 278.2/278.7 from 277.8/278.3. It rose against the Thai baht to 12.8959/9149 from 12.9089/9300.

-- BERNAMA