Malaysian Ringgit Eases Against US Dollar On US Election Jitters

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- The ringgit eased on the back of US presidential election jitters, after opening higher against the US dollar Wednesday. At mid-day, the ringgit was quoted at 4.2300/2350 to the greenback from 4.1760/1850 at Wednesday's opening and 4.2000/2050 on Tuesday's closing. FXTM Market Research Vice President Jameel Ahmad said investors were caught completely off-guard by not pricing in the reasonable possibility that Donald Trump could become the President of the United States. "The beat to the drum of music that Donald Trump could win this election has become louder, although Hillary Clinton has now pulled into the lead with the votes at 197 to 187 as at 12.46 pm. "The markets crashed earlier in Asia trading with investors transitioning to full-on 'risk off' mode as a result of the shock of Trump going into the lead," he said. Jameel said 'risk off' basically means investor appetite towards riskier assets is diminished, meaning a massive negative for emerging market currencies. It has been proven time and time again that when there is uncertainty in the markets, the Japanese Yen proves itself as a best friend to investors and this is happening once again, he said. "The Bank of Japan will be in complete dismay if Trump pulls this off because it is going to send the US dollar-Japanese Yen towards gravity," he said. Jameel said gold's safe-haven appeal is also being driven through the roof with the precious metal rallying on investor uncertainty. At lunch break, November 2016 surged 108 ticks to RM179 a gramme, December 2016 rose 110 ticks to RM179.50 a gramme, January 2017 was up 92 ticks to RM179.00 a gramme and February 2017 improved 76 ticks to RM179.00 a gramme. Meanwhile, at mid-day the global gold price stood at US$42.24 a gramme. The ringgit also traded lower against a basket of major currencies. It declined against the Singapore dollar to 3.0386/0433 from 3.0082/0158 at Wednesday's opening, and weakened against the yen to 4.1761/4.1827 from 3.9583/9702. The local unit also depreciated against the British pound to 5.3048/5.3132 from 5.1620/1743 and declined against the euro to 4.7778/4.7847 from 4.5915/6018. The outcome of the US presidential election will be known later Wednesday. -- BERNAMA