KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 17): The Malaysian ringgit continued to weaken against the greenback, falling by 0.73% to a near 10-month low as a U.S. interest rate hike is being anticipated by the market.

The ringgit was Asia’s worst-performing currency since Republican Donald Trump’s surprise triumph in the U.S. presidential election and has weakened by more than 4.0% since the election results.

As of 10.25 a.m., the ringgit was trading at RM4.3813 against the U.S. dollar.

This was despite Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) attempt to clamp down on non-deliverable forward (NDF) trades so as to curb speculation.

In a forex report, Ambank Group Research said it expects the Malaysian ringgit to fluctuate in the range of RM4.320 and RM4.350 against the U.S. dollar.

Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at ForexTime, meanwhile shared that from a technical standpoint, the U.S. dollar index is extremely bullish on the daily timeframe, as prices are trading above both the 20 and 200 simple moving average.