Ringgit slightly lower on China risk

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened slightly lower on Wednesday amid lack of follow-through.

At 9.02 am, the ringgit was quoted at 4.1100/4.1140 against the US dollar from 4.1080/1110 on Tuesday.

An analyst said the market failed to sustain previous days’ uptrend as cautious investors took note of the death toll from the novel coronavirus, which has grown to 490 as of last night.

Hence, he said the market is hopeful for China's pump-priming efforts to stimulate its economy for further leads.

Meanwhile, AxiCorp's chief market strategist Stephen Innes said Beijing’s move to stimulate its economy could provide a boost to both Malaysia's manufacturing and commodity export sectors and reverse the tide.

"While its also a bit early to suggest outhouse to the penthouse, the People’s Bank of China’s (PBoC) backstopped knock-on effect should ultimately attract regional inflows, especially if the yuan continues to travel on a positive tangent.

"And with the ringgit turning overly bearish in quick order on China risk as local equity outflows raced higher given Malaysia's export to China sensitivity," he added.

Against other major currencies, the ringgit traded mostly higher.

It rose against the Singapore dollar to 2.9944/9977 from 2.9970/0001 on Tuesday and appreciated vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.7571/7609 from 3.7654/7691 yesterday. The local currency also strengthened against the euro to 4.5398/5435 from 4.5410/5459 yesterday but decreased against the British pound to 5.3546/3589 from 5.3466/3521 previously. - Bernama