KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 — The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar today supported by mild buying amid the positive local economy and higher global oil prices.

At 9.04am, the ringgit was quoted at 3.8870/8920 from 3.8880/8910 recorded at yesterday’s close.

A dealer said the energy prices remained incredibly supportive of the local note and would likely stem any further weakness ahead of the general election.

“But we expect tight trading range to persist for the ringgit on the back of little local bond activity, and it is likely to move sideways,” the dealer told Bernama.

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He said the risk sentiment was improving, with the Chinese Yuan trading favourably, suggesting that the ringgit should trend positively.

The ringgit, however, opened mostly lower against a basket of major currencies except the yen, against which it rose to 3.6175/6232 from 3.6242/6273 yesterday.

It fell compared with the Singapore dollar to 2.9663/9708 from 2.9648/9677 yesterday and depreciated against the British pound to 5.5176/5255 from 5.5151/5209 previously.

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Vis-a-vis the euro, the ringgit eased to 4.8098/8164 from 4.8067/8112 yesterday. — Bernama