KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 — The ringgit extended its downtrend against the US dollar amidst concerns about rising inflation and uncertainties surrounding emerging market (EM) economies, said an analyst.

At 6pm, the local currency fell to 4.5070/5085 against the greenback from 4.5010/5045 at yesterday’s close.

ActivTrades’s market analyst Alexander Londono said inflation fears had lifted the safe haven greenback against emerging market currencies like the ringgit.

"However, later today we’ll have the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the United States and if the reading comes out better than expected, the ringgit-US dollar may find some support and retrace to the upside.

"The direction of the currency pair for the rest of the week would also depend on CPI data from Europe, not only from the US,” he told Bernama.

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

The local unit dipped against the Singapore dollar to 3.2320/2333 from yesterday’s close of 3.2263/2286 and declined against the Japanese yen to 3.1690/1703 from 3.1596/1615 yesterday.

It fell against the British pound at 5.2768/2786 from 5.2658/2687 and eased against the euro to 4.5818/5833 from 4.5638/5663 previously. — Bernama