KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian ringgit has fallen to a five-month low of 4.0017 against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday as the concerns over global trade weigh on Asian currencies.
The ringgit opened slightly higher at 3.9975 against the greenback early Tuesday, but weakened 0.10 percent to 4.0017 on evening, as concerns were raised following U.S. President Donald Trump's tough threat on trade.
"We expect the ringgit to experience some selling pressure in line with bearish sentiment over emerging economy currencies," said PublicInvest Research on its report Tuesday.
According to the report, trade tensions between the U.S. and China, the two largest economies will be negative to emerging economies given the significance of trade to respective economies. The emerging currencies will also be affected with heightened volatility.
However, the research house opined the selling pressure on the ringgit could be less intense compared to other peers, supported by its strong fundamentals, such as Malaysia's positive current account surplus and strong economic growth.
"The ringgit will also benefit from much reduced political risks following a smooth transition of power at the Federal level recently," it added.
The research house full-year average of ringgit remained unchanged at 4.00 per U.S. dollar.
