Ringgit opens lower against US dollar

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar today on lack of demand.
At 9am, the local note was quoted at 3.9130/9180 from 3.9070/9120 at Friday's close.
OANDA Head of Trading Asia-Pacific Stephen Innes said the ringgit would be challenged by the US dollar, prompted by a signal that the Federal Reserve was going to have four rate hikes this year instead of what was in their dots before.
"While the bar remains high for this outcome, investors continue to respect the possibility, but beyond this unlikely outcome and possible repricing of risk, the picture remains positive for the ringgit," he said in a note today.
With the Federal Open Market Committee meeting slated for March 20 and March 21, the market is widely anticipating the Fed would increase its interest rate by 25 basis points.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of emerging currencies.
The ringgit rose against the Singapore dollar to 2.9671/9727 from Friday's 2.9761/9810 and strengthened versus the euro to 4.8005/8074 from 4.8138/8215.
Vis-a-vis the yen, the ringgit was slightly lower at 3.6967/7018 from 3.6953/6010, but higher at 5.4508/4589 from 5.4565/4643 against the British pound. — Bernama