RINGGIT ENDS MARGINALLY LOWER AGAINST GREENBACK AMID UPBEAT US DATA

By Abdul Hamid A Rahman

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 (Bernama) -- The ringgit ended marginally lower against the US dollar on the final trading day of the week, pressured by a stronger greenback following upbeat US economic data that exceeded market expectations.

At 6 pm, the local currency weakened to 4.5055/5100 versus the greenback, from Thursday’s close of 4.5030/5080.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes noted that the latest US economic data outperformed expectations. Gross domestic product (GDP) figures were revised upwards, while initial jobless claims fell, signalling robust employment growth supported by strong consumer spending.

“As a result, US ten-year yields have risen, initially strengthening the dollar. This has led traders to scale back expectations for 2025 rate cuts to fewer than the two initially anticipated by the Federal Reserve,” he told Bernama.

The US Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday revised its third-quarter GDP growth rate to 3.1 per cent annually, up from 2.8 per cent. Separately, the US Department of Labor reported a decline of 22,000 in initial jobless claims for the week ending Dec 14, 2024, bringing the total to a seasonally adjusted 220,000, indicating a resilient labour market.

The ringgit traded mostly higher against other major currencies.  

It strengthened against the British pound to 5.6328/6384 from 5.6999/7062 and improved against the euro at 4.6776/6823 from 4.6876/6928 on Thursday.

However, it weakened against the Japanese yen to 2.8747/8779 from 2.8687/8723.

Against ASEAN currencies, the ringgit showed a mixed performance.  

It declined against the Thai baht to 13.0670/0861 from 13.0322/0530, the Indonesian rupiah to 277.7/278.1 from 276.0/276.4, the Singapore dollar to 3.3146/3181 from 3.3130/3169, and the Philippine peso to 7.66/7.67 from 7.63/7.64.

-- BERNAMA