Ringgit slightly lower, unlikely to make headway into 2019

At 9 am (0100 GMT) the ringgit traded at 4.1020/1050 versus the greenback from Tuesday's close of 4.0950/0980. (Filepic of people waiting to buy foreign currencies.)

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened slightly lower against the US dollar this morning dampened by weak demand for the local currency ahead of the Christmas holiday, dealers said.

At 9.05 am, the ringgit was traded at 4.1800/1880 versus the greenback from 4.1790/1830 at Friday's closing.    

A dealer said sentiment in the market was sour amid a possible US government shutdown coupled with lower bond yields on the back of concerns of slowing economic growth, putting the US dollar under pressure against other safe-haven currencies.

He said the Japanese yen benefited the most from this market anxiety.

Meanwhile, OANDA Head of Trading Asia-Pacific Stephen Innes said with oil prices weakening and markets still fretting about global growth concerns, it's unlikely the ringgit will make any significant headway into the new year.

At the time of writing, benchmark Brent crude eased 0.22 per cent to US$53.98 per barrel.

At the opening bell, the ringgit traded mostly higher against other major currencies except the Japanese yen, against which the local currency fell to 3.7647/7730 from 3.7588/7634 on Friday.

The ringgit strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.0442/0511 from 3.0490/0531, rose against the euro to 4.7564/7668 from 4.7758/7808 and appreciated against the pound to 5.2902/3008 from 5.2919/2986. - Bernama