KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 — The ringgit ended lower against the US dollar on the first trading day of July as the greenback rose ahead of US payroll data, while a weaker Malaysia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) weighed on market sentiment.
At 6pm, the local note depreciated to 4.1575/1600 from Wednesday’s close of 4.1480/1500.
According to Bloomberg, won led the decline in emerging currencies after Korea halted plan to ease movement in the country, while Asia manufacturing managers reflected the lower economic recovery as pandemic continues to pull down output.
The IHS Markit Malaysia Manufacturing PMI, a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance, fell to 39.9 in June 2021 from 51.3 a month earlier reflecting stricter Covid-19 containment measures.
At the close, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
The local note improved further versus the British pound to 5.7257/7292 from yesterday’s 5.7462/7490 and appreciated against the euro to 4.9271/9300 from 4.9316/9339.
The ringgit inched up versus the Singapore dollar to 3.0869/0890 from 3.0870/0887 and was better vis-a-vis the yen to 3.7280/7303 from 3.7528/7550 previously.
— Bernama
