KUALA LUMPUR (July 6): The ringgit opened marginally higher against the US dollar today, supported by firmer crude oil prices.
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At 9am, the local note ticked up to 4.1555/1590 against the greenback from 4.1560/1575 at yesterday’s close.
At the time of writing, international oil benchmark Brent crude was 0.09% higher at US$77.23 (about RM321.08) per barrel.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said there was a fallout yesterday between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with Saudi Arabia during the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) meeting, so a proposed increase in oil output by about two million barrels per day from August would not take place.
“This may lead to supply tightness in the oil market and higher oil prices, which is positive for the ringgit,” he told Bernama.
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However, Adam said gains in Brent crude oil prices could be limited later on by any move in the meeting to resolve the UAE-Saudi Arabia spat by probably going ahead with the deal and discuss a new UAE baseline as part of a new deal.
“Overall, we expect the local note to strengthen slightly to a range of RM4.15 to RM4.16 today,” he added.
Meanwhile, at the opening bell, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
The local note advanced against the euro to 4.9288/9330 from 4.9357/9374 at yesterday’s close, appreciated vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.7481/7516 from 3.7495/7512, and rose versus the Singapore dollar to 3.0882/0910 from 3.0900/0915 yesterday.
However, it weakened against the British pound to 5.7587/7635 from 5.7577/7598 previously.-BERNAMA