KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit lost ground gained on Wednesday to close slightly lower against the US dollar today in the absence of a new market catalyst to drive the local note upward, a dealer said.
At 5 pm, the ringgit was lower against the greenback at 3.7440/7470 from Wednesday’s close of 3.7325/7365.
“Regional currencies are deteriorating. As for the ringgit, there are a lot of factors weighing on demand, and it’s not just an expected US Federal Reserve rates hike.
“We have an open market here, whereby everybody can buy and sell the note anytime,” the dealer said.
Commenting on the possibility of Malaysia opting for a re-peg of the ringgit, as was the case during the financial crisis of 1997/1998, she said “it was unlikely to happen.”
“The environment is different now as we have the capacity, like strong international reserves, and a well capitalised financial system,” she told Bernama.
However, she did not rule out the possibility that the domestic currency might touch the 3.800-level, if selling pressure remained.
Against other major currencies, the ringgit traded mixed.
It depreciated versus the Singapore dollar to 2.7789/7826 from 2.7780/7818 yesterday and weakened against the pound to 5.7886/7947 from 5.7615/7688.
But, the ringgit appreciated vis-a-vis the yen to 3.0294/0323 from 3.0425/0467 and strengthened against the euro to 4.2180/2221 from 4.2241/2293. – BERNAMA