THE ringgit was lower against the US dollar at today’s opening on lack of demand, a dealer said.

At 9am, the local note was quoted at 3.9250/9290 from 3.9160/9200 at yesterday’s close.

OANDA head of Asia-Pacific trading Stephen Innes said the ringgit was underperforming this week due to quarter-end repatriation flows.

“Now the US dollar versus the ringgit is caught up in the broader greenback’s strength and rising US bond yields.

“The risk sentiment waning regional equity market will struggle, and the threat of additional regional outflows as trade war rhetoric increases could dent all regional currency sentiment, dragging the ringgit lower by proximity,” he said.

Another dealer said the US dollar became the star overnight in the market across most asset classes and getting swept up ahead of the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting, scheduled for Monday, with the central bank expected to hike its interest rates.

“But with the positive announcement by the prime minister yesterday that the local note would be trading higher versus the US dollar, we hope it would spur more buying for the ringgit or at least cap the ringgit from weakening further (against the US dollar),” the dealer added.

Prime Minister Razak was reported as saying that the ringgit is expected to surge to 3.80 against the US dollar in the short term, supported by positive indicators, including the country’s strong economic performance and exports worth more than RM80 billion in the first quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of emerging currencies. The ringgit rose against the Singapore dollar to 2.9834/9876 from 2.9893/9942 yesterday and strengthened versus the euro to 4.8285/8350 from 4.8398/8455.

Vis-a-vis the yen, the ringgit was slightly lower at 3.6966/7007 from 3.6957/7002 and decreased to 5.4663/4739 from 5.4585/4653 against the British pound. – Bernama, March 16, 2018.