Ringgit set for weekly loss

Malaysia’s ringgit was poised for a weekly decline before a government
report that economists predict will show export growth slowed to the
least since July in October.


Overseas sales increased 7.3 percent from a year earlier after
rising 16.6 percent in September, according to the median estimate of
economists in a Bloomberg survey before data due at about noon local
time.


The currency dropped for a second day as the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index
of shares fell after the European Central Bank damped speculation it
would step up debt purchases.


“Concerns of a global slowdown are hurting the outlook for
Malaysia’s exports,” said Hideki Hayashi, a researcher at the Japan
Center for Economic Research in Tokyo.






“Asian currencies, including the ringgit, are seeing downward pressure after the ECB damped speculation over bond purchases.”


The ringgit slumped 0.8 percent this week and 0.5 percent today to
3.1470 per dollar as of 8:45 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg.


It touched 3.1510 earlier, the weakest level since Dec. 1. The
currency may weaken to around 3.20 by the end of the year, Hayashi said.


Malaysia’s industrial production rose 2.8 percent in October from a
year earlier, compared with a revised increase of 3 percent the prior
month, the statistics department said yesterday. - Bloomberg