SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said the US dollar was stronger as traders were not entirely convinced the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will pause its rate hike cycle in the near future.

Investors, he said, will be anticipating another round of consumer price index (CPI) and employment reports due to be released before the Fed’s next meeting in September.

“So the case for another rate hike could still be made, especially on higher energy and food ‘pass-throughs’. Hence, US bond yields climbed, which negatively impacted the ringgit,” he told Bernama.

Innes also noted the credit concerns surrounding Chinese housebuilders, which are affecting sentiment in China as well as the ringgit.

Additionally, Singapore’s economic growth has fallen below expectations, indicating an economic slowdown which could potentially harm Malaysia’s exports and services if the slowdown becomes more severe, he warned.

At 6pm, the local note fell to 4.5865/4.5895 against the US dollar compared with 4.5690/4.5720 yesterday.

The ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

It rose against the Japanese yen to 3.1712/3.1735 from 3.1760/3.1783, gained vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.8230/5.8268 from 5.8296/5.8334 on Thursday, but eased marginally versus the euro to 5.0351/5.0384 from 5.0350/5.0383 previously.

At the same time, the local unit traded lower against other Asean currencies.

The ringgit weakened versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3967/3.3991 from 3.3948/3.3975 at Thursday’s close and slipped against the Indonesian rupiah to 301.3/301.6 from 300.8/301.2 yesterday.

It declined against the Philippine peso to 8.14/8.15 from 8.12/8.13 on Thursday and fell against the Thai baht to 13.0737/13.0871 from 13.0112/13.0264 previously.