KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 — The ringgit fell against the US dollar at today’s close as the greenback continued strengthening after the US Federal Reserve hinted at another interest rate hike this year.

At 6pm, the local currency stood at 4.2160/2190 versus the greenback from 4.2025/2060 at yesterday’s close.

"Clearly, the recent statements by the Fed officials have contributed to the strong US dollar.

"In light of the ongoing military conflict which has significant impact on rising commodity prices, it would actually help to bolster the case for a higher US Fed fund rate,” Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said.

He said for now, investors were uneasy over the monetary policies in the developed markets as liquidity conditions may not be so abundant as before given that these central banks are on the cusp of cutting down their asset purchases which had been the primary drivers for higher equity prices during the pandemic era in the past two years.

US Fed chair Jerome Powell said the US labour market is currently strong, and inflation is much too high, hence there is a need to return the stance of monetary policy to a more neutral level.

"If we conclude that it is appropriate to move more aggressively by raising the federal fund rate by more than 25 basis points at a meeting or meetings, we will do so.”

At the close, the ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.

The local unit fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.1027/1052 from 3.0992/1020 and against the British pound, it slipped to 5.5580/5619 from 5.5250/5296.

Vis-a-vis the yen, the local note rose to 3.4880/4908 from 3.5247/5276 and improved to 4.6346/6379 from 4.6463/6502 when compared with the euro. — Bernama