Ringgit slips further as US yields continue to rise

Bank Negara Malaysia's international reserves rose by US$600mil to US$103.3bil as at July 15, 2019 from two weeks prior.

KUALA LUMPUR:? The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar on lack of buying momentum and with interest in the greenback following higher US bond yields, a dealer said.

As at 9 am, the local unit was quoted at 3.9710/9750 from 3.9670/9710 recorded at yesterday's close.

The dealer said the surging US dollar and higher US bond yields continue to weigh on the local note.

“However, higher oil prices continued to leave the ringgit less vulnerable to external shocks, but it was hard to argue the current direction with US yields moving higher,” he added.

Meanwhile, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) yesterday, announced the country's economy grew by 5.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2018 compared with 5.6 per cent recorded in the same period a year ago.

It also said the ringgit  appreciated 6.2 pct against the US dollar in the 1Q18. “The ringgit remains resilient post-GE14,” BNM Governor Tan Sri Muhammad Ibrahim said.

Against a basket of major currencies, the local note traded mostly lower, except for the yen, which rose to  3.5801/5846 from 3.5836/5878.

The ringgit fell against the Singapore dollar to 2.9588/9640 from 2.9558/9599 on Thursday and decreased versus the British pound to  5.3664/3726 from 5.3543/3612,  while weakening against the euro at 4.6878/6933 from 4.6815/6878.- Bernama