KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened little changed against the stronger US dollar on Friday.
At 9.05 am, the local currency stood at 4.0380/0430 against the US dollar from Thursday’s close of 4.040/0440.
Axi chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said the ringgit was trading weaker following the yuan’s lead, as was the rest of Asia with US real rates on the rise.
“In addition, oil prices may continue to decline on Texas weather pattern improvements amid early pre-positioning for the OPEC meeting in March,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, it was reported China is exploring limits on exports of rare earth minerals, a move that could hurt exports to the US and the weapons-making industry.
“This is not the first time China has considered using its dominance in rare earth minerals as a retaliatory measure/negotiation tactic in bilateral disputes.
“For the time being, I do not think that China will look to pull this string anytime soon. Hence, I remain constructive on the yuan,” he added.
The local currency was traded lower against other major currencies on Friday.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0434/0490 from 3.0433/0472 yesterday and went down vis-a-vis the euro to 4.8840/8904 from 4.8771/8783.
The ringgit also depreciated against the British pound to 5.6419/6501 from 5.6249/6321 but rose against the yen to 3.8199/8253 from 3.8218/8263 previously. – BERNAMA