KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — The ringgit regained some lost ground to close higher against the US dollar today, supported by a slight rebound in crude oil prices, said an analyst.
At 6pm, the local note traded at 4.0750/0780 against the greenback compared with 4.0760/0800 yesterday.
Axi chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said the better movement in the ringgit today was in line with other Asian currencies’ gains due to solid November manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMIs) in the region, coupled with Covid-19 vaccine optimism.
“However, the local foreign exchange traders’ eyes and ears are now on the outcome of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (Opec) meeting extension.
“Although oil seems to have based, there is a lot of Opec uncertainly in the air, which is likely holding back traders from buying the ringgit,” he told Bernama.
It was reported that the scheduled Opec+ meeting would be pushed back to December 3, 2020, to give ministers more time to reach an agreement over production.
At the time of writing, the benchmark Brent crude oil was 0.15 per cent higher at US$47.49 per barrel.
The ringgit was traded mixed against other major currencies.
It weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.0395/0428 from 3.0388/0430 at the close yesterday and retreated against the euro to 4.9116/9156 from 4.8826/8891.
Vis-a-vis the yen, the ringgit strengthened to 3.8921/8953 from 3.9080/9129 yesterday’s close and appreciated against the pound to 5.4377/4421 from 5.4427/4501 previously. — Bernama
