KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — The ringgit closed lower against the US dollar today as traders remained cautious ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) upcoming two-day monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting on September 7 and September 8, an analyst said.

At 6.15pm, the local currency fell to 4.4900/4940 against the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.4855/4870.

UOB Malaysia’s senior economist Julia Goh noted that the ringgit’s weakening has been more gradual as the country’s fundamentals have remained firm amid robust economic growth and a sustained current account surplus.

"We expect BNM’s MPC to continue raising the overnight policy rate, (this time) by another 25 basis points at this week’s meeting.

"And as long as the US Federal Reserve stays the course for outsized rate hikes in the coming months and China’s (economic) worries persist, we think most Asian currencies, including the ringgit, will be on the defensive against the US dollar,” she told Bernama.

Juwai IQI global chief economist Shan Saeed said the ringgit will remain under pressure in the short run but will recover once oil prices rebound.

"Major currencies globally are depreciating against the US dollar and we expect the trend to continue as we move into the last quarter. Confidence in the ringgit (will) return (due to) structural stability in the long run.

"As global investors, we analyse the economy from a bigger scale and we believe the Malaysian government has done a good job in maintaining structural stability despite global economic fragilities,” he added.

Hence, he reckons that the ringgit is likely to trade within the 4.0500 to 4.3500 range against the US dollar by year-end, based on the premise of higher oil prices, macroeconomic stability, higher trade and commerce numbers as well as foreign direct investments (FDI) coming into the country.

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

The local unit appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.1978/2011 from Friday’s close of 3.1996/2009, rose against the British pound to 5.1689/1735 from 5.1888/1906, and advanced against the euro to 4.4590/4630 from 4.4873/4888.

However, it eased against the Japanese yen to 3.1966/1997 from 3.1950/1963 previously. — Bernama