KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit closed lower against the US dollar today, reversing Thursday's gains, as surging COVID-19 cases, coupled with the declining oil price, weighed on sentiment, a dealer said.
At 6 pm, the local note stood at 4.2365/2385 versus the greenback compared with 4.2300/2330 at yesterday's close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim told Bernama that the ringgit did not respond positively against the greenback despite the country's better second quarter of 2021 (Q2 2021) gross domestic product (GDP) performance.
The country's economy expanded by 16.1 per cent in Q2 (Q1 2021: -0.5 per cent), mainly supported by the improvement in domestic demand and continued robust exports performance, said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
BNM Governor Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus said Malaysia's economic growth for 2021 was now projected to be between 3 and 4 per cent, slower than the earlier projection of between 6 and 7 per cent, largely due to the re-imposition of the nationwide COVID-19 containment measures following the spike in infection rates.
The Health Ministry said Malaysia recorded another 21,468 COVID-19 cases today, bringing the country's cumulative total to 1,363,683 cases.
At press time, the benchmark Brent crude oil price went down 0.03 per cent to US$71.29 per barrel.
The local note was also traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies, except the British pound.
The ringgit fell against the Japanese yen to 3.8409/8427 from 3.8301/8332 at Thursday's close and depreciated vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9775/9798 from 4.9660/9695 previously.
It slipped against the Singapore dollar to 3.1187/1207 from 3.1174/1198 but rose against the British pound at 5.8476/8504 from 5.8640/8682 yesterday.
- Bernama
trum
Biasa
2021-08-28 10:47