Ringgit eases on profit-taking

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit continued its morning downtrend to end lower against the US dollar today on profit-taking amid a firmer greenback.
At 6pm, the local note finished at 4.0090/0120 against the greenback from 3.9950/9990 on Monday.
A dealer said profit-taking was seen after the local unit touched a 19-month high versus the greenback yesterday.
"Besides, the US dollar has also started to gain ground amid rising expectations of a March interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve," he said.
Meanwhile, Oanda Corp Head of Trading for Asia Pacific, Stephen Innes, told Bernama the ringgit remained relatively undervalued on a trade-weighted basis despite a downtrend seen today.
"The broader picture remains favourable for further ringgit appreciation, especially against the backdrop of surging crude oil prices.
"But it is still up to the Bank Negara Malaysia's policy decision later in the month," he said.
Against a basket of major currencies, the ringgit was traded mostly lower, except versus the euro.
It depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.0023/0052 from Monday's 3.0008/0043, fell against the yen at 3.5512/5548 from 3.5298/5342 yesterday and slid against the pound to 5.4238/4294 from 5.4036/4106 yesterday.
However, vis-a-vis the euro, the local note strengthened to 4.7863/7903 from 4.7896/7952 on Monday. — Bernama