KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 — The ringgit closed higher against the US dollar today as oil prices continued to rise in anticipation of a production cut agreement by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) on Thursday, said an analyst.
At 6pm, the local unit was pegged at 4.3350/3450 against the greenback from 4.3600/3700 on Monday.
At the time of writing, Brent crude jumped 2.48 per cent to US$33.87 per barrel.
OANDA senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said in general, the sentiment in the financial markets is positive, as news that the worst might be over for Covid-19 continue to come in from Europe and the United States.
“That has seen equities rally and there has been a tentative rotation into emerging markets, which has definitely benefited the ringgit,” he told Bernama.
Halley added that although the sentiment may turn out to be premature, there is no doubt that the financial markets are starting to show signs of recovery.
“Over the next couple of days, I would not be surprised if the ringgit continues to recover and strengthen towards 4.3000 (against the US dollar) on Thursday.
“The key events will be if the Covid-19 drop in new cases and deaths proves to be a false dawn, and of course, the outcome of the Opec meeting on Thursday. We will have to wait and see how the situation evolves in the later part of the week,” he added.
Meanwhile, the ringgit closed mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
The local unit rose versus the Japanese yen to 3.9723/9826 from Monday’s 3.9919/0015 and edged higher against the Singapore dollar to 3.0415/0496 from 3.0417/0498 yesterday.
It went up against the British pound to 5.3376/3526 from 5.3619/3751 but eased against the euro to 4.7173/7291 from 4.7123/7248. — Bernama
