At 6pm, the local currency fell to 4.6950/4.6990 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.6885/4.6950.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the mild ringgit and Asia foreign exchange (FX) sell-off likely reflected the anticipation of a weaker US consumer price index (CPI).

“CPI is the centre of attention, and consensus suggests that the ringgit would react positively to an expected US inflation of below 8%,” he told Bernama.

He further said investors were still incredibly jittery due to the cryptocurrency train wreck, US election bets that failed to materialise, and the seemingly never-ending Covid-19 malaise in China. “The latter is likely the bigger influence on Asia FX as new Covid cases delay China’s reopening,” he added.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies. It improved further against the Singapore dollar to 3.3459/3.3490 from 3.3513/3.3562 yesterday and rose vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.2048/3.2077 from 3.2159/3.2208.

The local currency also strengthened against the euro to 4.6781/4.6821 from 4.7101/4.7177 at yesterday’s close and appreciated versus the British pound to 5.3387/5.3432 from 5.3651/5.3725 previously.