The local currency weakened further against the greenback to end the day at 4.4565/4.4590, down from yesterday’s level of 4.4550/4.4565.

Support for the US dollar rose after Fed officials seemed to oppose the perception that they will slow the pace of interest rates hike as they were already close to peaking, dealers said.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said even though local risk sentiment is sailing on an even keel with no material evidence of China-Taiwan tension escalation today and with Bursa Malaysia index closing higher, it was out of the fire and back into the frying pan for the ringgit.

“Even if investors start to shift attention away from the geopolitical events, concerns about China’s domestic economy are overshadowing risk. China’s continued Covid controls are weighing on the ringgit,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, the ringgit also closed lower against a basket of major currencies, except the Japanese yen.

The local currency eased against the euro to 4.5398/4.5424 from 4.5396/4.5412 yesterday and fell versus the British pound to 5.4271/5.4302 from 5.4244/5.4262 previously.

It also slipped against the Singapore dollar to 3.2310/3.2333 from yesterday’s close of 3.2262/3.2277 but appreciated vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.3228/3.3251 from 3.3459/3.3472 yesterday.