KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 — The ringgit opened at a fresh all-time low against the US dollar on Monday as demand for the greenback is strong due to its stature as a safe-haven currency, dealers said.
At 9am, the local note depreciated against the US dollar at 4.7105/7135 from last Friday’s closing of 4.7025/7065.
In a note today, Kenanga Research said the ringgit continued to slide versus the greenback on the back of rising domestic political uncertainty following the dissolution of parliament.
“This week, the ringgit may continue to trade above the 4.70 level against the safe-haven dollar on sustained domestic political uncertainty and persistent global risk-aversion, as the United States Federal Reserve is expected to continue tightening its monetary policy aggressively.
“On the other hand, our technical model suggests the ringgit may appreciate by 0.44 per cent to 4.684 against the US dollar,” it added.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies, except for the Japanese yen.
The local note fell marginally against the British pound to 5.2871/2904 from 5.2870/2915 at last Friday’s close, depreciated vis-a-vis the euro to 4.5909/5938 from 4.5741/5780, and slipped versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3024/3047 from 3.3009/3042.
But, it strengthened against the Japanese yen to 3.1708/1732 from 3.1836/1867 previously.
– Bernama
