KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 — The ringgit closed the week on a softer note weighed by the continuous strengthening of the US dollar, riding on the minutes of the Federal Reserve that indicated the central bank would continue to raise its interest rates.

At 6pm, the local currency ended at 4.4760/4795 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.4720/4750.

The ringgit has been in a negative tone for five straight days with its value remaining at the lowest level since January 2017.

A trader said the greenback soared across markets, with the US Dollar Index gaining about 0.4 per cent to 107.86 points.

On the economic front, he said investors see some hope for the US economy to avoid recession after initial jobless claims slipped to 250,000 last week, down from the revised 252,000 recorded in the previous week.

The ringgit, however gained significantly over the euro and British pound after the Eurozone inflation reached a new record high of 8.9 per cent year-on-year in July, the highest in 25 years.

Meanwhile, Germany’s inflation rose to 8.5 per cent in July.

Overall, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.

It gained against the euro to 4.5069/5104 from 4.5471/5502 at yesterday’s close and rose against the British pound to 5.3126/3167 from 5.3959/3995 yesterday.

The local unit also increased vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.2767/2795 from 3.3077/3102 yesterday and appreciated slightly against the Singapore dollar to 3.2225/2254 from 3.2371/2397 previously. — Bernama