Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the ringgit, which was seen as stronger against the US dollar during the morning session, weakened in the afternoon as traders and investors braced themselves for the latest US inflation data, which could influence the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy outlook.

“The PCE inflation rate, which is the Fed’s favourite inflation gauge, is expected to be sustained at 2.6% in July based on consensus estimates.

“Should the PCE inflation be higher than expected, it could boost the value of the US dollar,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, he noted that markets are anticipating the core PCE inflation to rise to 2.9% in July, up from 2.8% in June.

At 6pm, the local currency slid to 4.2230/4.2275 versus the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.2140/4.2195.

At the close, the ringgit settled mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

It fell versus the euro to 4.9291/4.9343 from 4.9089/4.9153 at yesterday’s close and eased vis-à-vis the Japanese yen to 2.8708/2.8741 from 2.8639/2.8679 yesterday, but the local currency edged up against the British pound to 5.6833/5.6894 from 5.6893/5.6967.

The ringgit also traded mostly lower against other Asean currencies.

The local currency depreciated versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2859/3.2899 from 3.2809/3.2854 yesterday, declined against the Thai baht to 13.0327/13.0519 from 13.0142/13.0364 previously, and slipped vis-a-vis the Philippine peso to 7.39/7.40 from 7.38/7.39.

However, it gained versus the Indonesian rupiah at 255.9/256.3 from 257.6/258.1 at yesterday’s close.