Thailand
Malaysia: Ringgit opens lower against US dollar
KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 ― The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar today as the greenback’s buying interest recovered, backed by the lower US weekly initial jobless claims data, an analysts said.
At 9am, the local note was trading at 4.1900/1920 versus the greenback compared with 4.1870/1890 at yesterday’s close.
According to reports, the initial jobless claims were 215,000 for the week ended February 26, a 18,000 decrease from last week’s revised level of 232,000.
“This suggested that the US labour market is improving, ahead of the key February US jobs report later today,” the analyst said.
Meanwhile, a report noted that oil prices, which were on an uptrend since the Russia-Ukraine crisis started, have decreased on a rumour that a deal on Iran’s nuclear activities could be signed within 72 hours.
It said traders reacted to the possibility that Iran could soon add barrels to the market, with few buyers willing to take Russian crude after Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
As at time of writing, Brent crude was trading at US$113 (RM473.40) level per barrel, down from its nine-year high of US$118 per barrel previously.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of other major currencies.
It strengthened versus the Singapore dollar to 3.0807/0824 from 3.0816/0833 at the close yesterday and was higher vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.5815/5842 from 5.6035/6061.
The local currency slipped against the yen to 3.6302/6323 from 3.6160/6181 on Wednesday and went up versus the euro to 4.6153/6175 from 4.6396/6418. ― Bernama