KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 — The ringgit advanced against the US dollar for a third consecutive day today amid recent gains in oil prices and weaker demand for the greenback, said an analyst.

At 6pm, the local note jumped 100 basis points to 4.0500/0550 from yesterday’s close of 4.0600/0620.

Axi chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said the market is seeing a huge rally in commodity prices and now crude oil is playing catch-up sooner-than-expected due to the emergency roll-out of Covid-19 vaccine globally.

"The Covid-19 vaccine is also suggesting that tourism channels will soon open up beyond inter-district, paving the runway for international travel,” he told Bernama.

Earlier, the local note rose to more than a two-year high to 4.0483 against the US dollar, wiping out its pandemic-fuelled losses this year.

The ringgit touched 4.4410 against the US dollar on March 23 this year.  

Meanwhile, the ringgit also traded mostly higher against other major currencies.

It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0301/0332 from yesterday’s close at 3.0348/0368 and was sharply higher against the British pound at 5.3537/3585 from 5.4063/4106 yesterday.

The ringgit appreciated against the euro to 4.9074/9122 from yesterday’s 4.9142/9183 but declined against the Japanese yen to 3.8927/8964 from 3.8863/8889 previously. — Bernama