KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 — The ringgit improved against the US dollar at the close Friday as the greenback slipped further to extend its downtrend over the past few days, said an analyst.
At 6pm, the local note appreciated to 4.1805/1810 versus the US dollar from 4.1835/1850 at Thursday’s close.
The analyst said the US Dollar Index traded without a clear direction and threatens to challenge the key support at the 95.00 yardstick amid mixed US yields and the prevailing sentiment favouring the risk complex.
“The greenback is expected to trade on cautious note ahead of the key Nonfarm Payrolls and unemployment rate figures, due out later today,” he said.
The ringgit also continued to find support from the strong commodity and energy prices, he added.
At the press time, Brent crude advanced 1.65 per cent to US$92.61 per barrel.
Back home, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of other major currencies.
It eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.1096/1102 from Thursday’s close of 3.1007/1021 and declined versus the euro to 4.7929/7935 compared with 4.7207/7224 yesterday.
The domestic unit depreciated against the British pound to 5.6721/6728 from 5.6716/6736 yesterday and went up vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.6365/6372 from 3.6458/6474 previously. — Bernama
