KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 — The ringgit strengthened past the 4.1400 level against the US dollar at the close today as the greenback continued to fall.
Bank Islam chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US Dollar Index was seen declining to 92.371 despite better-than-expected US jobless claims data for the week ending September 4.
At 6pm, the local note traded higher at 4.1340/1370 against the greenback compared with 4.1470/1500 at yesterday’s closing.
“We believe the expected delay in the tapering of asset purchases may have been the driving force for the appreciation of emerging market currencies including the local note,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, the local note was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies at the close.
It appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.7592/7623 from 3.7727/7758 yesterday and rose vis-a-vis the euro to 4.8934/8970 from 4.9063/9103.
The ringgit, however, was slightly lower against the Singapore dollar at 3.0867/0892 from 3.0860/0885 on Thursday and weakened against the British pound at 5.7347/7388 from 5.7303/7345 previously.
— Bernama
