KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 20): Malaysia's daily foreign exchange (FX) turnover rose to its highest year-to-date (YTD) figure of US$17.98 billion (RM81.92 billion) on Monday (Sept 19), from US$16.13 billion last Thursday, according to Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) latest update as the ringgit depreciated to its weakest level in about 24 years against the US dollar at above 4.5000.

Prior to Monday's figure, the country's highest daily FX turnover so far this year was recorded at US$17.78 billion on Aug 30, according to the central bank.

Malaysian markets were closed last Friday in conjunction with the Malaysia Day holiday.

Global FX markets have been taking cue from anticipations of interest rate hikes by world central banks to fight inflation.

On Tuesday, it was reported that most Asian currencies were subdued for the day as investors braced for a sizeable US Federal Reserve interest rate hike this week to combat inflation, while regional equities edged up, tracking a Wall Street rebound.

"South Korea's won bucked the regional trend to strengthen 0.4% as the currency, described by some analysts as equity-sensitive, gained on a rebound in Asian share markets, while Malaysia's ringgit hit a fresh 24-and-a-half-year low to lead losses among regional currencies," Reuters reported.

At the time of writing, the ringgit depreciated to its weakest level against the US dollar so far on Tuesday to 4.5575.

Over the last one year, the exchange rate was between 4.1392 and 4.5575.

Compared to the Singapore dollar, the ringgit was traded at 3.2379. Against the Australian dollar, the ringgit was transacted at 3.0628.

Meanwhile, the ringgit depreciated to 4.5710 versus the euro and compared to the British pound sterling, the exchange rate was at 5.2181.