Ringgit opens higher against greenback, most regional peers

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar and was mostly firmer against regional peers on Friday amid easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which lifted sentiment towards the local note.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said US President Donald Trump had indicated that a deal with Iran was close to being finalised, which could lead to the resumption of shipping activities in the Strait of Hormuz.

“Meanwhile, crude oil prices such as West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent fell by 1.97% and 2.92% to US$85.98 per barrel and US$90.38 per barrel, respectively.

“The US Dollar Index (DXY) was also down by 0.28% to 99.672 points as a result. In addition, US initial jobless claims rose for the third week in a row to 229,000 last week,” he told Bernama.

The local currency traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

At 8am, the local currency appreciated to 4.0505/4.0615 against the greenback from Thursday’s close of 4.0650/4.0690.

It climbed versus the Japanese yen to 2.5293/2.5364 from 2.5321/2.5347, but depreciated against the British pound to 5.4337/5.4485 from 5.4325/5.4378, and slid vis-a-vis the euro to 4.6889/4.7016 from 4.6878/4.6924 at Thursday’s close.

The ringgit was mostly higher against regional peers.

It rose versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1541/3.1632 from 3.1556/3.1589, was up against the Indonesian rupiah to 225.1/225.8 from 225.9/226.2, and strengthened against the Philippine peso to 6.60/6.62 from 6.62/6.63 previously.

However, the local note eased against the Thai baht to 12.3623/12.4023 from 12.3331/12.3501 on Thursday.