KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 — The ringgit extended its downtrend to end lower against the US dollar today after steady US yields provided support to the greenback, an analyst said.

At 6pm, the local currency eased to 4.2180/2210 versus the greenback from 4.2130/2155 at yesterday’s close.

OANDA senior market analyst for Asia Pacific Jeffrey Halley said US yields and the greenback rose modestly following the release of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes overnight.

"The FOMC minutes suggested that 50-basis point Fed Funds hikes are on the cards and it is expected to happen from next month,” he said.

Halley noted that Asian currencies were resilient overnight, edging only slightly lower.

"Even after US Federal Reserve governor Lael Brainard’s comments, Asian foreign exchange remained fairly steadfast with no signs of even an incipient taper tantrum,” he said.

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

It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0996/1021 from 3.1001/1021 at yesterday’s close and strengthened vis-a-vis the euro at 4.5942/5975 from 4.5964/5991.

The local unit depreciated against the British pound at 5.5188/5228 from 5.5178/5210 yesterday and slipped against the Japanese yen at 3.4093/4120 from 3.4014/4034. — Bernama