Ringgit Ends Higher Against US Dollar

By Azlee Nor Mahmud KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 (Bernama) -- The ringgit closed higher against the US dollar today as investors shifted their interest to the local note, a dealer said. At 5 pm, the ringgit was quoted at 3.1590/1610 against the greenback from 3.1615/1635 on Monday. "The US Federal Reserve (Fed) is on course to end its quantitative easing this October and investors are wondering when the interest rates would be raised," a dealer told Bernama. "The interest rate hike by the Fed might see investors favouring the euro for trades instead of the greenback. "There are anticipations that the European Central Bank's easing would reduce the impact probability on Asian currencies," he added. Meanwhile, the local unit was traded higher against other major currencies, except for the Japanese yen. The ringgit declined against the yen to 3.0395/0429 from Monday's 3.0387/0418 but increased against the euro to 4.1674/1706 from 4.1729/1761 on Monday. Against the British pound, it appreciated to 5.2357/2406 from 5.2415/2460 on Monday and edged up against the Singapore dollar to 2.5280/5298 from 2.5286/5306 previously. --BERNAMA