KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 — The ringgit extended last week’s gains to close higher versus the US dollar for the fourth consecutive trading day, backed by buying interest for the local note as well as greenback sell-off, said an analyst.
At 6pm, the ringgit was traded at 4.1045/1085 against the US dollar from 4.1260/1290 last Friday.
AxiTrader chief Asia market strategist Stephen Innes said the ringgit was tracking the firmer Chinese yuan, supported by the anticipation of the US-China “phase one” trade deal being signed early next year.
“The ringgit’s move to the 4.10 level against the US dollar was a bit quicker that I had expected due to the positive direction of the trade truce. This is good for the ringgit,” he told Bernama.
Innes also anticipated that there would be no year-end funding pressure on the US dollar this year, which was why traders were confident to take profits off the greenback.
The ringgit’s appreciation was also thanks to higher oil prices.
At the time of writing, the benchmark Brent crude has risen almost one per cent to US$66.93 (RM275) per barrel.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly firmer against a basket of major currencies.
It improved against the Singapore dollar to 3.0424/0458 from 3.0491/0524 on Friday last week and strengthened against the Japanese yen to 3.7608/7655 from 3.7680/7718.
The local currency increased against the British pound to 5.3839/3908 from 5.3927/3970 but depreciated against the euro to 4.5966/6019 from 4.5951/6001. — Bernama
