KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 — The ringgit ended higher against the US dollar today, spurred by positive external developments following news that the US has agreed in principle to the terms of a phase one trade deal with China, dealers said.

As at 6pm, the local note was traded at 4.1335/1355 to the greenback compared with Thursday’s close of 4.1580/1610.

A dealer said the US tariffs of 15 per cent on US$160 billion of Chinese goods, scheduled on Dec 15, will be postponed, thus lifting global market sentiment.

The US dollar index was down 0.6 per cent after global risk appetite was boosted by the positive signal of the US-China trade deal and Britain’s election.

Meanwhile, against a basket of other major currencies, the ringgit traded mostly higher except to the British pound, whereby it decreased to 5.5443/5486 from 5.4815/4871 on Thursday.

The local unit rose versus the Singapore dollar at 3.0566/0586 from 3.0646/0672 yesterday, appreciated against the yen to 3.7694/7722 from 3.8256/8287 previously and strengthened to 4.6208/6247 from 4.6262/6308 vis-a-vis the euro. — Bernama