THE ringgit retreated from yesterday’s gains to end lower against the greenback today as the minutes from the United States’ Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) pointed to US interest rates staying higher for longer, an economist said.

An expected slowdown in Malaysia’s second-quarter economic growth and China’s recovery woes further dampened sentiment.

At 6pm, the local note fell to 4.6535/6550 against the US dollar from 4.6265/6320 at yesterday’s close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid told Bernama that markets remained jittery over the outlook of US monetary policy given the mixed signals from FOMC officials.  

“The risk-off mode emanating from China’s (struggling) economy also suggests that the demand for US dollars will remain intact as investors would want to seek shelter against global uncertainties,” he said.

Afzanizam said the market will be watching out for Malaysia’s second-quarter GDP data due tomorrow, which is expected to slow from 5.6% to 3.3% based on consensus estimates.

The ringgit traded lower against a basket of major currencies.

It weakened versus the Japanese yen to 3.1832/1846 from 3.1782/1822 yesterday, dropped versus the euro to 5.0602/0618 from 5.0549/0609, and inched down vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9211/9230 from 5.9020/9090 yesterday’s closing.

Similarly, the local unit was traded lower against other Asean currencies.

The ringgit eased vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.4212/4228 from 3.4086/4132 yesterday and went down against the Thai baht to 13.1306/1423 from 13.0777/0995 previously.

It depreciated against the Philippine peso to 8.19/8.20 from 8.18/8.20 yesterday and declined versus the Indonesian rupiah to 304.4/304.7 from 302.7/303.2 previously. – Bernama, August 17, 2023.