A customer counts her ringgit notes outside a money changer at the central business district in Singapore in this August 25, 2015 file photo. Malaysia's ringgit jumped more than 5 percent to a five-week high on October 7, 2015 on stop-loss dollar selling and higher local stocks. The ringgit, the worst performing Asian currency so far this year, surged as much as 5.2 percent to 4.1600 per dollar, its strongest since Sept 1. REUTERS/Edgar Su/Files

Malaysia: Ringgit firms up on higher crude prices

  • Jul 09, 2021

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened firmer against the US dollar on Friday, buoyed by the rise in oil prices.

At 9am, the local note was traded at 4.1810/1840 against the greenback from 4.1815/1830 at Thursday’s close.

At the time of writing, oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.47 per cent to US$74.42 per barrel.

However, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said external pressures on the local note included the latest wave of infections in Asia, which would likely dampen the demand for oil today.

“As such, lower oil prices will likely be followed by a weaker ringgit due to the strong relationship between the Brent crude oil price and the local note,” he told Bernama.

Malaysia reported 8,868 new cases on Thursday, July 8, the country’s second-highest daily figure of all time, just behind the 9,020 cases announced on May 29.

Nevertheless, Adam expected the ringgit to trade between RM4.17 and RM4.18 to the greenback today.

At the opening bell, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

The local note depreciated vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.8051/8081 from 3.8045/8062 at Thursday’s close, fell against the euro to 4.9503/9539 from 4.9480/9497 and slipped versus the British pound to 5.7639/7681 from 5.7592/7612.

However, it appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.0893/0919 from 3.0928/0942 yesterday. – Bernama