KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — The ringgit inched up against the US dollar on relief over the geopolitical concern, while oil prices remained lower at US$92.83 per barrel, down by 2.76 per cent.
At 6pm, the local note stood at 4.1850/1870 versus the US dollar from 4.1885/1920 recorded on Monday.
“I think there seems to be some relief over the geopolitical concern as Russian troops have reportedly returned to their bases. Correspondingly, Brent crude prices have also retreated to below US$95 per barrel while the US Dollar Index (DXY) declined by 0.36 per cent to 96.023 points,” Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid told Bernama.
He said that following this, the dollar-ringgit has been well supported as risk aversion has waned somewhat with the greenback versus ringgit gaining to RM4.1860.
Despite that, the prevailing market condition is still fluid as the conflict in Ukraine could take a different turn as the market would want to see how the US would assess the latest development, he added.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded lower against major currencies, except with the yen… rising to 3.6193/6213 from 3.6415/6449.
Against the Singapore dollar, it slipped to 3.1097/1114 from 3.1074/1105.
Vis-a-vis the British pound, the ringgit fell to 5.6715/6742 from 5.6603/6651 and compared with the euro it dwindled to 4.7487/7510 from 4.7372/7416.
— Bernama
