Ringgit lower against US$ at close

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit ended the week lower against the US dollar as investors remained in cautious mode ahead of key United States (US) jobs data release, said an analyst.

At 6 pm, the local note fell to 4.6445/6485 against the greenback from 4.6365/6405 at Wednesday’s close.

The market was closed on Thursday in conjunction with the National Day 2023 celebration.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the market players will closely monitor the US Nonfarm Payrolls data due later today.

He said consensus estimates are pegging the number of jobs created at 170,000 in August from 187,000 in the previous month, which means that the pace of job creation has moderated this year.

"However, markets seem unconvinced as the US Federal Reserve is likely to keep their hawkish stance during September’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting,” he told Bernama.

At the close, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies, except versus the euro, where it increased to 5.0388/0432 from 5.0482/0526 at Wednesday’s close.

The local note declined against the British pound to 5.8878/8929 from 5.8684/8735 on Wednesday and fell against the Japanese yen to 3.1939/1968 from 3.1679/1708.

At the same time, the ringgit also traded lower against other Asean currencies.

It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.4386/4418 from 3.4278/4311 at Wednesday’s close and lower against the Indonesian rupiah at 304.6/305.1 from 304.1/304.6.

The local currency was down vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 13.2677/2852 from 13.2094/2268 on Wednesday and weaker against the Philippine peso at 8.21/8.22 from 8.17/8.18. - Bernama