Malaysian Ringgit Slides To 4-month Low Against U.S. Dollar

02:44, 18th September 2014

(RTTNews) - The Malaysian ringgit weakened against the U.S. dollar in the Asian session on Thursday, following the hawkish tone that emerged from the FOMC meeting that concluded yesterday.

Following the conclusion of a two-day meeting of the Fed's Open Market Committee on Wednesday, the Fed reiterated its pledge to keep near-zero rates in place for a "considerable time" after its bond-buying stimulus program ends. Meanwhile, the new rate projections suggested that officials were positioning themselves for a potentially faster pace of rate hikes than they had envisioned when the last set of forecasts were released in June.

The Bank Negara Malaysia will announce its interest rate decision at 6:00 am ET. Economists expect the bank to retain interest rates at 3.25 percent.

Against the greenback, the ringgit fell to a 4-month low of 3.2445. At yesterday's close, the ringgit was trading at 3.2175 against the greenback.

If the ringgit extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around the 3.25 area.