Malaysia: Ringgit opens lower as oil prices retreat

• Nov 22, 2021

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 — The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar on Monday as the greenback continues to strengthened amid concerns of growing inflation, coupled with lower oil price, a dealer said. 

At 9am, the local note weakened to 4.1870/1895 versus the greenback from 4.1810/1850 at Friday’s close.

The dealer said encouraging United States (US) economic data releases and concerns over rising inflation led to calls for a quicker policy tightening by the Federal Reserve.

“The US economic releases last week indicated stronger performance in October 2021 despite concerns over supply constraints and resurgence of Covid-19 cases may affect economic activities,” he said.

At press time, the benchmark Brent crude oil price fell 0.56 per cent to US$78.45.

Meanwhile, at opening, the local note was traded lower against a basket of major currencies except against the euro, where it rose to 4.7234/7262 from 4.7249/7295 on Friday.

The ringgit fell versus the British pound to 5.6265/6299 from 5.6147/6200 at Friday’s close, eased vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.6706/6731 from 3.6675/6714, and slipped against the Singapore dollar to 3.0728/0749 from 3.0702/0736. — Bernama