Malaysian Ringgit Opens Lower Against US Dollar

KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian ringgit extended its losses from Tuesday to open lower against the US dollar this morning on lack of demand, as investors remained cautious ahead of US President Donald Trump's speech, later on Wednesday, on tax reforms and infrastructure spending plan, dealers said. At 9.07 am, the local unit was traded at 4.4430/4500 against the greenback from 4.4380/4420 on Tuesday. News reports say some US Federal Reserve policymakers boosted expectations for a March interest rate increase, given the ccelerating inflation and that fact that US economy was at full employment. Meanwhile, the ringgit were traded higher against other major currencies. It improved against the Singapore dollar to 3.1582/1655 from 3.1686/1720 on Tuesday and increased versus the yen to 3.9239/9318 from 3.9477/9527 Tuesday. Vis-a-vis the euro, the ringgit appreciated to 4.6909/7001 from 4.6990/6045 and rose against the British pound to 5.4973/5073 from 5.5102/5165 on Tuesday. --BERNAMA