RINGGIT ENDS LOWER AGAINST US DOLLAR

By Siti Radziah Hamzah

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 (Bernama) -- The ringgit ended easier against the US dollar amid cautious sentiment in the currency market, said an analyst.  

At 6 pm, the local note was pegged at 4.2140/2195 versus the greenback, slightly lower than Tuesday’s closing rate of 4.2125/2155. 

“The US dollar/ringgit traded within a narrow range of RM4.21 to RM4.22 as traders and investors remained cautious on the state of the US economy with the government shutdown still in place,” Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid told Bernama.  

He noted that the tabling of Budget 2026 this Friday could, to some extent, determine the future trend.

“Should the government remain committed to maintaining fiscal discipline, it could lead to further appreciation of the ringgit. For now, there is a wait-and-see attitude amid the external uncertainties,” he said.

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

It appreciated versus the euro to 4.8941/9005 from 4.9135/9170 at Tuesday’s close, strengthened vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 2.7559/7596 from 2.7938/7960 yesterday, and rose against the British pound to 5.6501/6575 from 5.6620/6661 previously. 

The ringgit was mostly firmer against ASEAN currencies. 

The local note advanced versus the Thai baht to 12.9506/9739 from 12.9532/9688 at yesterday’s close, gained against the Singapore dollar to 3.2503/2548 from 3.2587/2613 previously, and edged up vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 254.2/254.7 from 254.3/254.6.

However, the ringgit fell against the Philippine peso to 7.27/7.28 from 7.25/7.26 on Tuesday.

-- BERNAMA