Ringgit closes lower against greenback

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit closed lower against the US dollar today on firmer buying interest in the greenback, dealers said.
At 6 pm, the local unit was quoted at 4.2300/2330 against the US dollar from 4.2200/2230 on Wednesday.
Oanda Head of Trading Asia-Pacific, Stephen Innes, said the US dollar continued to strengthen on the back of high US bond yields and positive sentiment surrounding it on the foreign exchange market.
"Speculators have been continuously buying the US dollar throughout Asia's trading session today, but the ringgit fared better than its regional peers.
"With the overall macro conditions still looking rosy, I would expect longer-term investors to continue supporting the ringgit over the medium-term," he told Bernama.
in addition, the higher benchmark Brent crude, which traded around US$58 per barrel, also supported the ringgit.
However, Innes said the ringgit may face further weakness, should there be an additional US Federal Reserve repricing on interest rates and US Treasury yields grow further.
The ringgit also traded lower against other major currencies.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.1076/1109 from Wednesday's 3.1059/1093 and slid against the British pound to 5.6564/6621 from 5.6518/6576.
It eased against the euro at 4.9770/9818 from 4.9577/9616 on Wednesday and depreciated against the yen at 3.7513/7550 from 3.7649/7686. — Bernama