KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit continued to end lower against the US dollar for the fourth consecutive day on a broad strengthening of the greenback as investors sought safe-haven currencies amid rising risk factors, an analyst said.
At 6 pm, the local currency fell to 4.6100/6120 against the greenback from yesterday’s 4.6030/6045.
The analyst said the strength of the US dollar was driven by investors’ expectations that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) would continue its aggressive monetary policy tightening due to high inflation.
He said the recent bullish move followed widespread panic caused by the fall in European equities as well as the British pound.
"The sense of fear is amplified by the constant threats that Russia could resort to nuclear weapons to maintain its position in the war against Ukraine and the constant flow of weapons sent from the US to Ukraine could end up dragging the US into the conflict against Russia,” he added.
However, he said based on a year-to-date basis, the ringgit has appreciated against other major currencies such as Japanese yen, British pound, Thailand Baht and euro.
"The recent weakening of the ringgit was influenced mainly by the shift in market expectations and movement in the financial market,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.
It rose vis-a-vis the euro to 4.4321/4340 from 4.4405/4420 and appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.1925/1941 from 3.1950/1965.
However, the local note depreciated versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2099/2117 from 3.2054/2069 and eased against the British pound to 4.9770/9791 compared with 4.9197/9213. - Bernama
