Ringgit slides ahead of US Fed meeting

The US$/ringgit may rise to 4.2 in next three months vs 3.95 on May 8.

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar for the third day running with traders expected to remain defensive throughout today's session as the market awaits the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting today.

The FOMC is expected to announce its decision on the US interest rate today after its two-day meeting ended on Wednesday.

At 9.07 am, the ringgit was quoted at 3.9930/9970 against the greenback from Tuesday's closing of 3.9880/9910.

OANDA Head of Trading in Asia-Pacific, Stephen Innes, said the ringgit's performance was also weighed by the foreign fund outflows as well as political risk overhang domestically.

Against a basket of currencies, the local currency was traded higher.

It improved against the British pound to 5.3362/3436 from 5.3415/3475 recorded yesterday.

The ringgit also advanced against the Singapore dollar to 2.9865/9902 from Tuesday's close of 2.9897/9931, strengthened against the euro to 4.6902/6953 from 4.7038/7082 on Tuesday, while vis-a-vis the Japanese yen, it advanced to 3.6129/6175 from 3.6205/6242 yesterday - Bernama