THE ringgit slipped further against the US dollar today in tandem with other Asian currencies as the greenback stayed firm after spiking higher overnight, on the prospect of higher US interest rates, despite slowing economic growth, a dealer said. 

At 6pm, the local note was traded lower at 4.4565/4585 versus the greenback from 4.4480/4520 at yesterday’s close. 

The dealer said there had been increasing demand for the US dollar as a safe haven asset due to renewed concerns over the US banking sector and economy, following a string of weak corporate earnings and softer-than-expected consumer confidence data, which kept appetite for most risk-driven assets limited this week. 

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the market also remained in a risk-off mode in the wake of US delivery giant United Parcel Service earnings that pointed to a freight recession in the US and perhaps globally. 

“This particularly hurts Asian exporters like Malaysia. The ringgit was also negatively impacted by the fall in oil prices as fewer transport trucks are hitting the highway weighing on diesel prices,” he told Bernama. 

Meanwhile, the ringgit traded easier against a basket of major currencies. 

It slipped vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9209/9231 from 4.9061/9106 yesterday, went down against the Japanese yen to 3.3397/3415 from 3.3231/3264 and fell versus the British pound to 5.5573/5597 from 5.5462/5512 previously. 

The local note also mainly traded lower against Asean currencies. 

The ringgit weakened against the Indonesian rupiah to 300.3/300.6 from 297.6/298.2 yesterday, depreciated versus the Thai baht to 13.0261/0365 from 12.9325/9494 and eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.3387/3405 from 3.3293/3328 yesterday, but remained flat against the Philippine peso at 8.01/8.02. – Bernama, April 26, 2023.