Ringgit falls victim to Fed’s hawkish tone

The ringgit continued to weaken against the greenback this week, closing at a three-month low of RM4.475 on Friday, after having hit RM4.49.35 on March 1. — Bloomberg

PETALING JAYA: The major driver for the weaker ringgit against the US dollar is said to be driven by the steady hawkish drumbeat of Federal Open Market Committee officials.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the strong inflation data has caused the US 10-year treasury bond yields to top out above 4% as investor expectations grow that the Federal Reserve will raise rates again and hold for longer, thus kicking market expectations of a ‘pivot’ further down the time horizon.