KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — The ringgit ended lower against the US dollar on Friday, as trade war uncertainties weighed on market sentiment, said an analyst.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said markets are bracing for impact, and the ringgit is already showing signs of weakness as tariff concerns creep into currency market flows.
At 6 pm, the ringgit dropped to 4.4410/4455 versus the greenback from Thursday’s close of 4.4310/4375.
Innes noted that the US inflation remains a complex issue, with its headline Producer Price Index (PPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) coming in softer than expected, which suggests that inflationary pressures are still persistent.
“Core inflation measures, such as CPI excluding airline prices and PPI components feeding into Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE), indicate that inflation isn’t easing as quickly as markets had anticipated.
“With core PCE remaining firm, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) is likely to maintain its hawkish stance rather than shifting toward rate cuts,” he told Bernama today.
On that note, he said weaker CPI and PPI would not be enough to push the Fed towards monetary easing, which reinforces support for the US dollar.
Meanwhile, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the local note weakened against the greenback in tandem with the rise in the US Dollar Index (DXY).
Mohd Afzanizam said concerns over trader war and the US recession have led to risk aversion becoming more prevalent.
“The disinflation trend in the US suggests that the Fed would be keen to accelerate the pace of monetary easing,” he added.
The ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
It rose versus the euro to 4.8194/8243 from 4.8205/8276 at Thursday’s close, appreciated against the British pound to 5.7404/7463 from 5.7426/7510 yesterday and gained vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 2.9809/9842 from 2.9909/9953 previously.
However, the local note performed mostly lower against Asean currencies.
It increased versus the Thai baht to 13.1820/2020 from yesterday’s closing price of 13.1199/1443, but it against the Singapore dollar to 3.3241/3277 from 3.3198/3250, dropped vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 271.6/272.0 from 269.7/270, previously.
The ringgit also edged lower versus the Philippine peso to 7.75/7.77 from Thursday’s closing of 7.72/7.74. — Bernama
