THE ringgit opened lower against the U.S. dollar today despite gains on Bursa Malaysia and regional bourses, dealers said. The ringgit depreciated at 3.6500/6550 against the greenback from 3.6450/6480 at yesterday's closing.
Dealers said the ringgit was weaker due to speculation that Malaysia's February exports data would be bearish. The data is due for release on April 3. "The current global market conditions prompted investors to lock up recent gains in stocks and currencies," they said. Compared with other major currencies, the ringgit was mostly higher.
It rose against the Singapore dollar at 2.3939/3994 from 2.3948/3989 yesterday and also gained against the Japanese yen at 3.6921/6994 from 3.7077/7130 previously. However, the ringgit was lower against the British pound at 5.2159/2248 from 5.1985/1050 yesterday but it strengthened against the euro at 4.8122/8198 from 4.8369/8420 previously. -- Bernama