Ringgit closes higher against US dollar

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit closed higher against the US dollar today on improved sentiment after the US Federal Reserve kept its interest rate unchanged, according to a dealer.

At 6pm, the local note ended at 3.8850/8880 against the greenback from 3.8975/8995 on Tuesday.

FXTM Research Analyst, Lukman Otunuga, said the US dollar weakened against its major peers as investors closely evaluated the fundamental factors that were weighing heavily on the currency.

He said key event risk would be the US jobs report for January, which should offer fresh insights into the health of the US labour market.

"With the US dollar clearly in need of a lifeline, it will be interesting to see if January's US jobs report comes to the rescue," he said in a statement today.

The ringgit closed mixed against a basket of major currencies.

It strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 2.9575/9618 from Tuesday's 2.9711/9731 and appreciated versus the yen to 3.5354/5387 from 3.5869/5897 previously.

It went down against the euro to 4.8508/8553 from 4.8317/8358 on Tuesday and depreciated against the British pound to 5.5229/5283 from 5.4842/4889 previously. — Bernama