RINGGIT EXTENDS LOSSES AS US DOLLAR STRENGTHENS

By Siti Noor Afera Abu

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- The ringgit extended Friday’s losses against the US dollar, closing lower today following a 0.70 per cent rise in the US Dollar Index (DXY) to 98.406 points.

At 6 pm, the local note eased to 4.2135/2180 versus the greenback compared with Friday’s close of 4.2055/2125.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar-ringgit exchange rate moved in a narrow range today, hovering around RM4.2103 to RM4.2180.

He also noted that the Japanese yen weakened the most against the US dollar with the dollar-yen rate surpassing 150 yen, as incoming Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is likely to favour pro-growth policies.

“Such situation appears to have benefitted the US dollar. Regional currencies also depreciated against the US dollar,” he told Bernama.

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

It increased versus the euro to 4.9155/9207 from 4.9360/9442 at Friday’s close and appreciated against the Japanese yen to 2.8019/8051 from 2.8537/8586 at the end of last week, but weakened vis-à-vis the British pound to 5.6608/6669 from 5.6577/6671.

The local note was traded mixed against ASEAN currencies.

It inched up vis-à-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.2562/2599 from 3.2621/2678 at Friday’s close and rose versus the Philippine peso to 7.22/7.23 from 7.26/7.28 previously.

However, it slipped against the Thai baht to 12.9810/13.0009 from 12.9807/13.0084 on Friday and slid versus the Indonesian rupiah to 254.0/254.4 from 253.9/254.4.

-- BERNAMA