Ringgit Opens Lower Against US Dollar

KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 (Bernama) – The ringgit extended its loss from Tuesday to open lower against a firmer dollar Wednesday and amid lower crude oil prices. At 9.03 am, the ringgit was quoted at 4.0530/0600 against the greenback compared with Tuesday 's close of 4.0445/0485. OANDA Head of Trading in Asia-Pacific, Stephen Innes said the stronger US dollar in the face of significantly lower crude oil prices caused the ringgit to struggle to gain traction. As at 9.30am, the benchmark Brent crude traded lower at US$ 71.79 per barrel due to concerns over rising supply. Meanwhile, another dealer said Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks on the upbeat economic performance of the United States also pushed up the greenback, resulting in it trading higher against other major currencies. He said in addition, investors were also staying on the sidelines ahead of the June Consumer Price Index to be released Wednesday for further investment direction. The ringgit, however, traded higher against a basket of major currencies. It strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 2.9686/9748 from 2.9737/9768, improved against the yen to 3.5867/5939 from 3.5986/6025 and advanced versus the pound to 5.3131/3235 from 5.3610/3667 on Tuesday. Vis-a-vis the euro, the ringgit also climbed to 4.7238/7327 from 4.7438/7489. --BERNAMA