KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 — The ringgit opened higher versus the US dollar today, lifted by the rising crude oil price, which is currently trading at US$63.84 per barrel, up by 0.81 per cent.
At 9am, the ringgit was at 4.1810/1860 against the greenback from 4.1900/1930 recorded at yesterday’s close.
A dealer said that the price of Brent crude rose after Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said the country would avoid a conflict with the United States and its allies and believed that a military confrontation based on deception is illegal.
Tensions between Teheran and Washington soar following attack on the Abqaiq oil facility and the Khurais oil field in Saudi Arabia which the United States blamed on Iran.
The attack allegedly using a combination of drones and cruise missiles caused a temporary shutdown of 5.7 million barrel-per-day (bpd) of Saudi’s crude oil production or around five per cent of the global daily oil supply.
Meanwhile, against a basket of other major currencies, the ringgit traded mostly higher except to the British pound, which decreased to 5.2367/2434 from 5.2262/2316.
Vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar, the local note rose to 3.0326/0371 from 3.0406/0349, improved versus the yen to 3.8724/8781 from 3.8789/8496 and appreciated to 4.6196/6286 from 4.6341/6391 when compared with the euro. — Bernama
