Ringgit closes lower against US dollar

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit closed lower against the US dollar today in line with most Asian emerging currencies, further weighed down by risk-off sentiment in the markets, a dealer said.
At 6pm, the ringgit stood at 4.2935/2965 against the greenback compared with Thursday’s close of 4.2900/2930.
The dealer said escalating geopolitical tension between the US and North Korea continued to dampen investment sentiments in emerging markets and contributed to the losses in the Asian currencies despite the retreat in greenback as investors swarmed the safe haven assets and currencies.
The Swiss franc and Japanese yen were often sought in times of geopolitical tension or global financial stress, partly due to their big current account surpluses, he added.
Meanwhile, the ringgit closed mostly lower against a basket of major currencies, except the British pound.

The local currency fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.1461/1495 from 3.1438/1474 on Thursday, depreciated versus the yen to 3.9365/9396 from 3.9035/9077 and slipped versus the euro to 5.0479/0518 from 5.0232/0284 yesterday.
It strengthened against the British pound to 5.5644/5696 from 5.5736/5779 on Thursday. — Bernama