KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 — The ringgit retreated from yesterday’s gains to open lower against the US dollar today on a cautious mode, despite the weaker performance of the greenback.
The US dollar weakened on the back of the rising of risk appetite, which was boosted by stable crude oil prices, and positive news of the Covid-19 vaccines, dealers said.
At 9am, the local currency stood at 4.0900/0950 against the greenback compared with last Friday’s close of 4.0880/0930.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the prevailing situation looks constructive for the ringgit but the market is expected to adopt a wait-and-see approach ahead of the Budget 2021 voting by Members of Parliament, slated for Thursday.
On the other hand, he said the latest development on vaccine looks very encouraging as more companies have been reporting a decent success rate in their research and the relevant approval from the authority would be procured in the near future.
“This should pave the way for a sustained recovery next year should the vaccine can be discovered and distributed globally.
“Following this, the commodity prices, namely the Brent crude and crude palm oil have worked in our favour. Therefore, the ringgit should continue to gain further momentum this week,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded higher against other major currencies.
The local note was higher against the Singapore dollar at 3.0443/0491 compared with Monday’s close of 3.0476/0524, and rose vis-a-vis the yen to 3.9105/9157 from 3.9380/9439.
It improved versus the euro to 4.8434/8509 from 4.8549/8625 on Monday and increased against the British pound to 5.4526/4599 from 5.4624/4711. — Bernama
