KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — The ringgit ended the week on a higher note against the US dollar today, after the greenback continued to weaken following the unexpected United States (US) economic data, said an analyst.
At 6pm, the local currency rose to 4.4495/4520 versus the greenback from Thursday’s close of 4.4515/4550.
OANDA Asia Pacific senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said the US dollar selloff continued overnight after weak US gross domestic product (GDP) data — which slipped 0.90 per cent in the second quarter of 2022 — signalling that its economy had entered a technical recession.
“Asian currencies finally started strengthening versus the US dollar overnight after weak US data pushed US yields lower as recession fears heightened,” he said.
Meanwhile, at the close, the ringgit traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local currency fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.2243/2266 from Thursday’s close of 3.2192/2222 and depreciated versus the Japanese yen to 3.3347/3368 from 3.2865/2893.
It also fell against the euro to 4.5385/5410 from 4.5196/5232 yesterday and declined versus the British pound to 5.4048/4078 from 5.4001/4044 previously.
— Bernama
