KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 — The ringgit ended slightly higher against the US dollar today on renewed buying interest for the local note, said a dealer.

At 6pm, the ringgit rose by 80 basis points to 4.2300/2330 versus the greenback compared with 4.2380/2420 at Wednesday's close.

He said the better global oil prices also helped to push the ringgit to close higher, with the benchmark Brent crude oil standing at US$71.73 a barrel, up 0.41 per cent.

"We expect the ringgit to face pressure against the US dollar especially after the US lawmakers agreed to a US$1.0 trillion infrastructure bill to boost the country's economy, coupled with worries over the higher daily Covid-19 cases in Malaysia,” he said. 

Meanwhile, the local note was traded lower against a basket of major currencies.

The ringgit fell against the Japanese yen to 3.8301/8332 from 3.8253/8292 at Wednesday’s close and depreciated vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9660/9695 from 4.9623/9670 previously.

It slipped against the Singapore dollar to 3.1174/1198 from 3.1159/1191 and was lower against the British pound at 5.8640/8682 from 5.8539/8595 yesterday. — Bernama