Malaysian Ringgit Opens Higher Against The US Dollar

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian ringgit opened higher against the US dollar Thursday on improved demand for the currency, a dealer said. At 9 am, the local unit was traded at 4.4440/4480 against the US dollar from 4.4470/4510 on Wednesday. A dealer said there was a mild buying support for the ringgit following a retreat in the greenback, after traders took profits from the safe haven currency. "The US dollar went down, despite a robust economic data released in the US, coupled with President Donald Trump's announcement on corporate tax cuts," the dealer said. He also said the market expected Bank Negara to announce a positive set of Gross Domestic Product growth data for 2016 and for the last quarter of last year. Against a basket of major currencies, the ringgit was traded lower. It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.1318/1350 from 3.1240/1288 and versus the Japanese yen, it decreased to 3.8982/9031 from 3.8842/8884. Vis-a-vis the British pound, the ringgit weakened to 5.5372/5444 from 5.5223/5281 and compared with the euro, it depreciated to 4.7191/7242 from 4.6943/6989 on Wednesday. --BERNAMA