THE ringgit ended lower today for the third consecutive day against the greenback amid cautious trading ahead of US inflation data later tonight, an analyst said.

At 6pm, the local note slid to 4.4565/4605 versus the US dollar from yesterday’s closing rate of 4.4460/4500.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the weaker ringgit was due to inflation concerns as investors awaited the release of the US consumer price index (CPI) report.

“A stronger inflation print would be negative for risk assets as it would cause the rates market to push out (the possibility of US) rate cuts for the remainder of 2023 and (this would) strengthen the greenback,” he said.

“On the flip side, if the US CPI comes in lower than consensus, commodity-related currencies should really benefit.”

The ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

It appreciated against the euro to 4.8830/8874 from 4.8835/8879 at yesterday’s close and perked up against the Japanese yen to 3.2962/2994 from 3.2963/2995, but weakened vis-a-vis the British pound at 5.6254/6305 versus 5.6126/6177.

However, the local note traded lower against Asean currencies.

It slipped to 3.3563/3596 against the Singapore dollar from 3.3522/3557 yesterday and fell versus the Indonesian rupiah to 302.4/302.8 from 301.6/301.9.

The ringgit also declined vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 13.2354/2528 from 13.1835/2016 and went down against the Philippine peso to 8.00/8.01 from 7.97/7.98. – Bernama, May 10, 2023.