KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit ended flat against the US dollar at the close today on lack of fresh leads, an analyst said.
At 6 pm, the ringgit finished at 4.1830/1860 against the US dollar from yesterday’s close of 4.1830/1870.
FXTM market analyst Han Tan said the local note was not spared from the risk-off mood that swept across the market with most Asian currencies declining against the greenback.
“The ringgit briefly threatened to hit the psychologically important 4.20 level, before paring losses going into the extended weekend, aided by Chinese central bank’s injection of calm into the onshore yuan,” he told Bernama.
Malaysia’s better-than-expected June industrial production figures he said, did little in offsetting the extraneous factors that continue to be the ringgit’s primary drivers.
According to the Department of Statistics data, the Industrial Production Index (IPI) grew by 3.9 per cent in June 2019 as compared with the same month last year.
The IPI was driven by an increase in the indices for mining (4.6 per cent), manufacturing (3.8 per cent) and electricity (1.7 per cent).
At the close, the ringgit traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.
It appreciated against the British pound to 5.0652/0705 from Thursday’s of 5.0865/0922 and rose against the euro to 4.6858/6908 from 4.6896/6949.
The ringgit went down against the yen to 3.9522/9561 from 3.9418/9466 and fell against the Singapore dollar at 3.0259/0285 from 3.0257/0290.