By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 (NNN-Bernama) — The ringgit opened easier versus the US dollar Wednesday on the lack of buying interest as investors’ sentiment remained cautious amidst the uncertainties due to the local political development.
At 9 am, the local note stood at 4.2400/2440 against the greenback from Tuesday’s close of 4.2370/2380.
An analyst told Bernama that investors also prefer the safe-haven US dollar as China’s July retail sales, industrial production and urban investment data had weakened, while COVID-19 wreaks havoc across the region.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that the nation’s continuing leadership crisis could be the start of a much deeper plunge if the currency fails to climb back above its Aug 5, 2021 peak of 4.2105 against the US dollar.
“The currency, which surged as much as 11 per cent between March 2020 and January 2021, has already halved its gains as the coronavirus outbreak worsened.
“The bearish momentum could now send the currency toward its June 2020 low of 4.3457,” it said.
Meanwhile, the local note had opened higher against a basket of major currencies.
The ringgit rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1133/1165 from 3.1182/1192 at Tuesday’s close and improved against the Japanese yen to 3.8718/8758 from 3.8768/8778 previously.
It gained versus the British pound to 5.8253/8308 from 5.8462/8476 yesterday, and strengthened vis-a-vis the euro at 4.9655/9701 compared to 4.9874/9885 at Tuesday’s close.
— NNN-BERNAMA