KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar today on weaker demand as faltering sentiment on the global economy continues to cloud investors’ appetite, dealers said.
At 9 am, the ringgit fell to 4.1900/1940 against the greenback compared with 4.1870/1900 at Tuesday’s close.
A dealer said lingering uncertainties on the US-China trade war have led most investors to seek safe haven instruments including the US dollar and Japanese yen.
He said the economic slowdown in China is also causing the Chinese yuan to depreciate along with other regional currencies, which includes the ringgit as it is pegged to the yuan's performance.
Besides that, the easing of oil prices has also further weakened the local note. The benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.44 per cent lower at US$68.37 per barrel as at the time of writing.
It improved versus the Singapore dollar to 3.0369/0409 from Tuesday’s 3.0396/0420, but fell against the Japanese yen to 3.8335/8382 from 3.8283/8321.
The ringgit, meanwhile, traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.
The local unit weakened against the British pound to 5.3024/3079 from 5.2986/3045, but appreciated against the euro to 4.6790/6855 from 4.6844/6899. - Bernama
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