KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 — The ringgit continued its retreat at close today as the World Health Organisation declared the 2019 novel coronavirus as a global health emergency, triggering economic concerns globally.

At 6pm, the ringgit was quoted at 4.0960/1000 against the greenback from 4.0870/0910 at yesterday’s close.

An analyst said the increasing death toll from coronavirus in China, as well as the fast-spreading infection to other countries could have an adverse impact on the economy, especially the tourism sector.

"Even though it is still early to determine the impact on the local economy, the global economy is expected to see a slowdown, especially in the first half (of this year) as the global supply chain has been disrupted due to the spread of the virus,” she said.

However, she added that the government’s readiness to deploy a stimulus package to address the economic impact of coronavirus shows that the government is not shortsighted about its repercussions on the economy.

"This seems to be a guarantee to investors so that they do not pull out in a drastic manner from the local market,” she said.

Against other major currencies, the ringgit was traded mostly lower.

It increased slightly to 2.9988/3.0032 from 2.9999/3.0035 against the Singapore dollar, but depreciated vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.7581/7628 from 3.7523/7570 yesterday.

The local currency also weakened against the euro to 4.5167/5227 from 4.5026/5083 and slipped against the British pound to 5.3723/3792 from 5.3192/3257 yesterday. — Bernama