KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — The ringgit rose against the US dollar at the opening today in line with its regional peers due to positive sentiment arising from the upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping.

 At 9am, the ringgit was at 4.1730/1760 against the greenback from 4.1800/1830 at yesterday’s close.

A dealer hoped that Trump-Xi meeting slated to be held during the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan end of this month, would provide the much-awaited solution to the escalating trade war involving the two economic superpowers. 

"We hope a truce is achieved and the tension would de-escalate,” he said. 

The prevailing positive sentiment among investors has also pushed up oil prices. 

As of 9am, benchmark Brent Crude was at US$62.49 per barrel compared with US$60.46 (RM252.30) per barrel yesterday.

Besides the US-Sino trade war, reports of a possible interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank have also boosted investors sentiment for emerging markets.

 At the opening, the ringgit was mixed against a basket of major currencies.

The local currency was lower at 5.2421/2476 compared with yesterday’s close of 5.2355/2409 but improved versus the euro to 4.6729/6780 from 4.6745/6795. 

However, it eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.0518/0551 from 3.0471/0497 but fared better against the yen to 3.8436/8474 from 3.8596/8635 yesterday. — Bernama