KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 — The ringgit rebounded from yesterday’s losses to end marginally higher against the US dollar today, boosted by buying demand and continued rally in crude oil prices, a dealer said.
At 6pm, the local note stood at 4.1870/1890 versus the greenback compared with 4.1935/1955 at Wednesday’s close.
A dealer said that oil prices continued their uptrend Thursday, with Brent crude soaring above US$116 per barrel as trade disruption and shipping issues from Russian sanctions over the Ukraine crisis sparked supply worries while US crude stocks fell to a multi-year low.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia (OPEC+) have decided to maintain an increase in output by 400,000 barrels per day this month despite the price surge, ignoring the Ukraine crisis during their talks and snubbing calls from consumers for more crude oil, he said.
Meanwhile, MARC Ratings Bhd had expected Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to hold the overnight policy rate at the historical low of 1.75 per cent, and it envisaged the central bank to continue its cautious stance while maintaining its assessment of the economy and inflation outlook.
“BNM has been in this status quo since July 2020 to support the economy’s fragile recovery,” it said in a statement recently.
At the close, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of other major currencies.
It strengthened versus the Singapore dollar to 3.0816/0833 from 3.0882/0899 at the close yesterday but depreciated vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.6035/6061 from 5.5807/5834.
The local currency rose against the yen to 3.6160/6181 from 3.6399/6419 on Wednesday and went up versus the euro to 4.6396/6418 from 4.6481/6503 previously.
— Bernama
