KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 (Bernama) -- The ringgit continued to weaken against the US dollar, breaching the 4.57 level as the greenback continued to strengthen after the latest interest rate hike by the American central bank. Lower oil prices also weighed on the local currency.

At 6 pm today, the local currency depreciated to 4.5775/5800 against the greenback from 4.5660/5695 at Thursday’s close.

The ringgit was trading at around 4.55 to 4.57 throughout the day, depreciating 9.6 per cent year-to-date this year, according to Ambank Research.

“The local note is expected to trade between the support levels of 4.55 and 4.58, while resistance is pinned at 4.60 to 4.65 in the coming days,” it said in a note today. 

Meanwhile, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said it will continue to closely monitor and ensure orderly financial market conditions amid external developments that have led to persistent strength in the US dollar against almost all currencies, including the ringgit.

However, the central bank said that ringgit movements will continue to be “market-determined and the foreign exchange market continues to function and intermediate effectively.”

At the time of writing, the benchmark Brent crude oil price slid 1.95 per cent to US$88.70 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

The local note went up versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2130/2152 from 3.2196/2225 at yesterday’s close, appreciated against the British pound to 5.0957/0985 from 5.1564/1603, and rose vis-a-vis the euro to 4.4686/4710 from 4.5002/5037 on Thursday.

However, it slipped against the Japanese yen to 3.2091/2113 from 3.1890/1919 previously.

-- BERNAMA