KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar this morning on fresh demand for the greenback following encouraging US employment data, said a dealer.
At 9.05 am, the local unit was quoted at 4.2300/2400 to the greenback from Wednesday’s 4.2070/2150.
The dealer said the higher US hiring data had strengthened speculation that the US Federal Reserve would raise interest rates later this month.
The ringgit was also traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It declined against the Singapore dollar to 2.9835/9929 from 2.9736/9803 on Wednesday and was slightly lower versus the yen at 3.5098/5187 from 3.5096/5178 yesterday.
It depreciated against the pound sterling to 6.4749/4923 from Wednesday’s 6.4346/4477 and rose against the euro to 4.7444/7564 from 4.7455/7549 on Wednesday.-- BERNAMA