KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 — The ringgit ended marginally higher against the US dollar today but remained in a relatively tight trading range due to the weak oil prices.

At 6pm, the local note stood at 4.2180/2230 versus the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.2185/2215.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the daily Covid-19 tally in the country, — which reached another record high of 19,819 cases — led to sideways trading of the local currency.

At the same time, investors were also digesting the latest political developments in the country.

"Brent crude oil price — which has a causality effect towards the ringgit — also declined as the increasing spread of the coronavirus Delta variant in top consuming countries offset the positivity coming from the fall in the United States’ oil inventories,” he told Bernama.

At press time, the benchmark Brent crude oil price stood at US$72.38 per barrel.

Meanwhile, at the close, the local note was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.

The ringgit rose against the Japanese yen to 3.8633/8679 from 3.8638/8666 at today’s close and appreciated vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0017/0076 from 5.0128/0164 previously.

However, it fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.1265/1305 from 3.1223/1247 at yesterday’s close and weakened against the British pound to 5.8778/8848 from 5.8696/8738 previously. — Bernama