Ringgit ends flat against US$ as China's stimulus measures underwhelm

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit ended flat against the US dollar today with the local note tracking the Chinese yuan’s weakness as China’s latest stimulus measures fell below expectations, said an analyst.

At 6 pm, the local note remained unchanged at 4.6465/6510 against the greenback from last Friday’s close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit remained stuck at around RM4.65 per US dollar as China’s latest stimulus measures underwhelmed.

"The one year loan prime rate (LPR) was cut by 10 basis points to 3.40 per cent, which was smaller than the 15 basis points reduction as anticipated by the market while the five-year LPR was unexpectedly maintained at 4.20 per cent.

"Consequently, China’s renminbi (also known as yuan), weakened against the US dollar by 0.29 per cent to 7.3059 yuan,” he told Bernama, adding that it seemed that China was quite timid in reponding to the threats of slower growth going forward.

"Therefore, it’s going to be a risk-off mode at the moment which would translate into a weaker ringgit,” he said.

The ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

It strengthened versus the Japanese yen to 3.1869/1902 from 3.1926/1959 last Friday, depreciated against the euro to 5.0647/0696 from 5.0503/0552 and inched down vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.9196/9254 from 5.9131/9189 previously.

The local note were mixed against other Asean currencies.

The ringgit rose slightly against the Philippine peso to 8.24/8.26 from 8.27/8.28 last Friday and improved versus the Indonesian rupiah to 303.1/303.6 from 303.9/304.2 previously.

It declined against the Singapore dollar to 3.4241/4279 from 3.4228/4264 last Friday and slid vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 13.2070/2258 from 13.1331/1510. - Bernama