KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 — The ringgit opened marginally higher against the US dollar today, supported by positive external developments mainly on the de-escalation of the United States and China trade brawl, dealers said.

At 9am, the ringgit rose to 4.1630/1690 against the US dollar from 4.1640/1680 yesterday.

Axi Trader Asia-Pacific market strategist Stephen Innes said the calming of the trade disputes between the world’s two biggest economies also supported the Chinese yuan and other risk markets.

“This could signal the beginning of a graduated withdrawal of tariffs on both sides of the fence,” Innes said in a note today.

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However, the gains in ringgit was limited by the lower oil prices with the Brent crude slid 0.18 per cent to trade at US$60.67 per barrel as at time of writing.

Moving forward, an analyst said investors will be monitoring the upcoming US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting next week.

“If the Fed cut the rates, it could boost the value of ringgit,” he said.

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On the local front, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has maintained the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 3.00 per cent at its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) yesterday, citing the global economy is expanding at a more modest pace amid slower growth in most major advanced and emerging economies.

The last MPC meeting for this year would be held on Nov 5 with many economists believed the central bank might keep the interest rate unchanged.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was mostly higher against a basket of other major currencies.

It strengthened versus the Japanese yen to 3.8468/8530 from 3.8602/8650 yesterday’s close and marginally rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0276/0324 from 3.0275/0308.

The local note appreciated against the British pound to 5.1334/1416 from yesterday’s 5.1355/1421 but fell vis-a-vis the euro to 4.6051/6130 from 4.5925/5973. — Bernama