KUALA LUMPUR (July 12): The ringgit opened firmer against the US dollar, backed by rising crude oil prices amid the higher number of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia.
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At 9am, the local note rose slightly by 45 basis points (bps) to open at 4.1850/1890 against the greenback from 4.1895/1940 at last Friday’s close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the ringgit is expected to get some support from the strength in Brent crude oil price due to the drop in crude stockpiles, which reinforced views that oil demand was picking up with the start of the United States driving season.
At the time of writing, oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.13% to US$75.65 per barrel.
“Henceforth, this could cushion the pressure coming from uncertainties related to the pandemic with Asia facing its latest wave of infections,” he told Bernama.
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The number of new daily Covid-19 cases in Malaysia remained above the 9,000 mark with 9,105 infections reported on Sunday, bringing the cumulative number of cases to 836,296.
At the opening bell, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local note slipped versus the British pound to 5.8176/8231 from 5.7798/7860 at Friday’s close, depreciated vis-a-vis Singapore dollar to 3.0970/1002 from 3.0953/0991, and fell against the euro to 4.9697/9744 from 4.9667/9720.
However, it appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.8004/8040 from 3.8076/8120 previously.-BERNAMA