KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 — The ringgit closed higher against the greenback for the second consecutive day as weaker US consumer data lifted hopes that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) would soften its monetary stance of aggressive interest rate hikes.

At 6pm, the local note jumped to 4.7120/7165 against the US dollar from 4.7350/7375 at yesterday’s closing.

An analyst said the weaker-than-expected US consumer confidence reading, as well as higher palm oil prices, had lifted the local currency for the past two days.

AmSpec Agri reported that palm oil exports for October 1-25 rose 6.6 per cent to 1.15 million tonnes from 1.08 million tonnes shipped a month earlier in the same period.

"The continuous raining days have raised concerns over palm oil stocks and traders are making a move to secure their stocks,” an analyst from the firm said.

Meanwhile, the ringgit weakened against a basket of major currencies.

The local currency fell against the euro to 4.7243/7288 from 4.6711/6735 at yesterday’s close and eased vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.4523/4575 from 5.3600/3628 at the close yesterday.

It was lower against the Singapore dollar at 3.3454/3491 from 3.3233/3253 previously and versus the Japanese yen, it weakened to 3.2020/2052 from 3.1804/1823 at yesterday’s close. — Bernama