KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 ― The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar today on lack of buying interest as the reintroduction of the movement control order (MCO) to curb the Covid-19 pandemic spread triggered anxieties among investors, said an analyst.
At 9am, the local note traded 50 points weaker at 4.0530/0600 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.0480/0530.
Axi chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said the ringgit was suffering from a triple whammy of negativity, with the oil prices remaining tentative.
“The US dollar gets stronger across the board on rising US yields, while the Malaysia government tightens MCO restrictions in yet another setback to the struggling domestic economic recovery.
“And all these add up to the sound of retreat for the ringgit,” he told Bernama.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday announced the reimplementation of the MCO in Penang, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Labuan, Melaka, Johor, and Sabah from Jan 13-26, 2021, where inter-district movement is prohibited.
Meanwhile, the conditional MCO (CMCO) would be enforced in Pahang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Terengganu, and Kelantan from Jan 13-26, 2021, while Perlis and Sarawak would be placed under the Recovery MCO (RMCO) during the same period.
At early trading, the ringgit was traded lower against other major currencies.
It slid against the Singapore dollar to 3.0467/0522 from 3.0436/0478 on Monday and depreciated against the yen to 3.8889/8960 from 3.8882/8934.
Vis-a-vis the pound, the local currency fell to 5.4801/4903 from 5.4616/4687 at the close yesterday and weakened against the euro to 4.9284/9382 from 4.9236/9309. ― Bernama
Source: Malay Mail
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