KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar on lack of demand due to falling crude oil prices, said an analyst.
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At 9.02am on Monday (Feb 7), the local currency traded 4.1835/1875 versus the greenback from last Friday’s close at 4.1805/1810.
The analyst said investors were staying away from the local foreign exchange market ahead of Malaysia’s fourth quarter of 2021 gross domestic product (4Q21 GDP) results due on Friday.
“The local note is expected to trade easier due to escalating daily Covid-19 cases in the country,” he told Bernama.
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On Sunday, 10,089 new cases were reported, taking the country’s cumulative number of Covid-19 infections to 2,914,220.
Meanwhile, the local currency traded mostly higher against a basket of other major currencies.
The ringgit appreciated against Japanese yen to 3.6299/6337 versus last Friday’s close at 3.6365/6372, rose against the British pound to 5.6615/6669 from 5.6721/6728 and increased against the euro to 4.7909/7955 from 4.7929/7935 previously.
However, it depreciated against Singapore dollar to 3.1097/1129 against last Friday’s close at 3.1096/1102.-BERNAMA