Ringgit eases against US dollar at close

The ringgit eased against the US dollar at close today, in tandem with most regional currencies, said a dealer.

At 5pm, the ringgit was quoted at 3.2850/2880 to the dollar from Tuesday's close of 3.2740/2770.

The dealer said the weakening of most regional currencies including the ringgit was driven by anticipation of the upcoming data in the US, prompting the US Federal Reserve to scale its bond-buying programme.

The deceleration of China's factory activity in December put further pressure on regional currencies, the dealer added.

The ringgit also traded lower against other major currencies.

The local unit was lower against the Singapore dollar at 2.5925/5957 from 2.5879/5911 on Tuesday, and eased against the yen to 3.1182/1216 from 3.1134/1174.

The domestic currency also depreciated against the euro to 4.5080/5131 from 4.5073/5121 on Tuesday, and was sharply lower against the British pound at 5.4439/4502 from 5.4096/4159.-- Bernama

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