Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid noted that the US Dollar Index (DXY) firmed in recent sessions and continued to linger around 100 points.

“China’s trade data during April showed that exports to the US declined 21%, while China’s export growth to Asean and the EU accelerated by 22.5% and 8.3%, respectively.

“It seems that such a trend would continue if the tariff issues are not resolved,” he told Bernama.

At 6pm, the local currency fell to 4.2970/4.3005 versus the greenback compared to yesterday’s close of 4.2780/4.2830.

At the close, the ringgit traded lower against a basket of major currencies.

It edged down versus the Japanese yen to 2.9565/2.9591 from 2.9534/2.9571 at yesterday’s close, depreciated vis-a-vis the euro to 4.8320/4.8359 from 4.8264/4.8321 and fell against the British pound to 5.7004/5.7050 from 5.6769/5.6835 previously.

The local currency also traded mostly lower against its Asean peers.

It weakened versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3095/3.3124 from 3.2984/3.3025 at yesterday’s close, slid versus the Indonesian rupiah to 260/260.4 from 259.2/259.6, and edged lower against the Philippine peso to 7.74/7.76 from 7.69/7.70 previously.

However, the local currency appreciated against the Thai baht to 13.0082/13.0267 from 13.0189/13.0404 previously.