THE ringgit stayed in red territory against the US dollar for the whole day amid uncertainty due to a hung parliament and China’s soaring new Covid cases keeping investors demotivated in today’s session.

At 6pm, the local note slid to 4.5770/5850 against the greenback from Thursday’s close of 4.5490/5565.

The market was closed last Friday in conjunction with the 15th general election.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the weaker ringgit was driven by a knee-jerk reaction to the political risk.

In addition, Asia’s risk appetite turned sour after news of lockdowns in several major cities in China. 

The world’s second-largest economy reported the country’s first Covid deaths in nearly six months, raising worries about more strict measures possibly being introduced to curb infections. – Bernama, November 21, 2022.