Ringgit opens easier against US dollar on Yuan's weakness

KUALA LUMPUR - The ringgit opened easier against the US dollar, in tandem with the weakness in the Chinese yuan, said an analyst.

At 9 am, the local note was trading at 4.5545/5585 against the greenback compared with 4.5375/5420 at Tuesday’s close.

The market was closed on Wednesday to celebrate the Awal Muharram.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes told Bernama that the decline in the United States (US) Treasury yield as well as its easing inflation should be positive for the ringgit.

However, the ringgit’s movement remains highly influenced by the yuan’s performance and the negative bias on China’s growth sentiment, he said.

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

It rose against the British pound to 5.8967/9019 from 5.9450/9509 at Tuesday’s close, and improved versus the Japanese yen to 3.2672/2703 from 3.2835/2870 previously, but eased vis-a-vis the euro to 5.1092/1137 from 5.1038/1088 earlier.

At the same time, the local note traded mostly lower against other Asean currencies.

The ringgit slightly dropped versus the Singapore dollar to 3.4394/4427 from 3.4346/4383 at Tuesday's close and declined against the Thai baht to 13.4212/4394 from 13.2586/2768, previously.

It was flat vis-a-vis the Philippines’ peso to 8.34/8.36 from 8.34/8.35 and slid against the Indonesian rupiah to 303.6/304.0 from 302.5/302.9 on Tuesday. - BERNAMA