KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 — The ringgit rebounded from yesterday’s losses to end higher against the US dollar today, driven by renewed buying after recent selling despite the bearish outlook on global oil prices, dealers said.
At the close, the local currency rose to 4.0380/0430 against the US dollar from 4.0400/0440 yesterday.
A dealer said oil prices fell up to 2.0 per cent on Friday on concerns that the closure of refineries in the US South, which were hit by extreme cold weather, would hurt demand for crude oil.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, US crude stockpile dropped more than expected in the week to Feb 12, 2021, before the freeze. It said crude oil inventories (excluding those in the strategic petroleum reserve) declined by 7.3 million barrels to 461.8 million barrels.
The ringgit, however, was traded lower against other major currencies today.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0489/0534 from Thursday’s 3.0433/0472 and went down vis-a-vis the euro to 4.8993/9062 from 4.8771/8783 yesterday.
The ringgit also depreciated against the yen to 3.8315/8366 per 100 yen from 3.8218/8263 on Thursday and weakened versus the British pound to 5.6488/6566 from 5.6249/6321 previously.
— Bernama
