Bank Muamalat's Mohd Afzanizam said market sentiment remained uneasy about the recent remarks by Trump on tariffs amid his approaching inauguration on Jan 20, 2025.
KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit extended Monday’s losses to close lower against the greenback yesterday, as the global economic outlook prompted investors to shift interest towards safe haven currencies, an analyst says.
At 6pm, the local currency edged down to 4.4675/4720 against the US dollar, compared to Monday’s close of 4.4570/4625.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the BRICS tariff threat still casts a shadow over regional markets, particularly as the Chinese yuan exerts downward pressure across regional currencies.
“With Chinese bond yields dropping ominously, there is a clear market anticipation of deeper rate cuts by China to bolster its weakening economy. This has resulted in a widening interest rate differential between the United States and China; not only is the yuan falling, but it is dragging the Asean currency basket along with it.
“Amidst this financial turbulence, Donald Trump’s unpredictable social media posts continue to inject a sense of tension and caution among traders, especially in Malaysia, leaving those betting against the US dollar in a particularly precarious position,” he told Bernama.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said market sentiment remained uneasy about the recent remarks by Trump on tariffs amid his approaching inauguration on Jan 20, 2025.
“Perhaps, the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Dec 17 and 18 would shed more light on how the Federal Reserve sees the economy as they will share their latest macroeconomic forecast, especially prospects for the Fed Fund Rate in 2025,” he said.
The ringgit was also traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
It weakened versus the British pound to 5.6643/6700 from 5.6613/6683, depreciated against the euro to 4.7003/7050 from 4.6856/6914 and eased against the Japanese yen to 2.9825/9859 from 2.9648/9687 at Monday’s close.
